Family
by f-romanoff-13
Summary: This is the story of the Avengers and their family; Clint & Natasha have children, so do Tony & Pepper and Thor & Jane. The other members of the team pitch in every now and again - My story 'A Couple of Master Assassins' is a sort of a prelude to this story (*** Chapters written out of order so please SEE LAST CHAPTER FOR LATEST UPDATES***)
1. Семья

_*This is the story of each time Natasha found out she was pregnant*_

* * *

**Evelyn Irina Barton**

Clint found Natasha in the bathroom. She was sat in the corner on the cold floor; her knees hugged tightly to her chest. She was staring so intently at the ground that she hadn't noticed him open the door.

"Nat? Natasha? Are you okay? You don't look great"

There was still no answer, no response

"Tasha..." He approached her slowly, sitting carefully opposite her. His hands on her shoulders, his knees pressed against hers.

Only then did she seem to realise she wasn't alone.

"Clint?" – It was almost a whisper, her voice trembling.

"What is it Nat?"

"Clint... I'm pregnant"

Up until this point they'd been subtle about their relationship. People suspected, sure, especially people like Pepper. But everyone had respected their boundaries and not asked too many questions. Now they were doing this; now they were starting a family, everything had to change. Suddenly, everyone knew. There were no secrets anymore.

Pepper, Thor and Bruce had been delighted. Tony seemed completely unsurprised. Steve was thrilled, but also relieved that he now knew what had been wrong with Natasha over the past few weeks. Clint and Natasha had decided not to tell anyone until she reached her second trimester, and the first three months had been filled with nausea, sickness and increasingly transparent excuses.

The following month during what had supposedly been a simple reconnaissance mission to get some intel, Natasha had been thrown through a second story window. This resulted in three weeks in a hospital bed, and the move from active field agent for both Natasha and Clint. Clint still participated in missions for the Avengers, but mostly he and Natasha worked the tactical side of the missions for SHIELD.

The next few months passed relatively uneventfully. All of the Avengers, as well as Pepper, Coulson, Hill and Fury, rallied round Clint and Natasha; supporting them in any way they could. Tony built them a nursery and bagsied godfather, Bruce gave really good back rubs, Steve offered them comforting words in their moments of panic, and Pepper was always there for Natasha when the Avengers were away.

39 long weeks, and Clint finally held his baby girl in his arms. She was the image of them; both of them perfectly combined. Her hair was the same colour as his; a dark shade of blond, but it was curly like her moms. She had Natasha's cute pixie ears and pouting lips, but when she smiled; it was Clint's mischievous grin on her tiny face.

* * *

**Elijah James & Henry Michael Barton**

Natasha noticed the nausea and drowsiness much sooner this time round. Clint had noticed too; by the way he smiled extra brightly at her every time he saw her, despite the fact neither of them had yet brought up the conversation. Evie was now a mischievous three year old; running round the tower, causing all sorts of havoc. She had everyone in the tower wrapped around her little finger – her bright green eyes and sweet innocent smile endeared her to everyone.

It was Pepper this time, to point out the obvious.  
Natasha tried to get Evie to sit still for two minutes so she could tie back her mop of curly blond hair, while Pepper tied the child's sneakers.

"Everyone knows you know?"

"What?"

"Everyone has noticed the signs Nat. Even Thor, and that's saying something! You and Clint aren't nearly as subtle as you think"  
Natasha didn't deny it. She released the wriggling child from her lap who ran straight over to Clint. Watching the two of them; she smiled.

If it were possible the sickness and nausea was worse this time around, and she was even more tired, which made her grouchy.  
'Twins' the doctor informed them. Clint grinned, thrilled. Natasha panicked.

Natasha got bigger quickly. Everything made harder by caring for a hyperactive, excitable three year old. But she was well supported from Clint and their friends. Even Evie helped her out as much as she could; excited at the thought of younger brothers or sisters to play with.

Natasha's world almost came crashing down when Clint was seriously injured during a mission, but Tony had ensured he'd gotten home. She had reached the eight month mark by this point and felt isolated and alone; terrified of the thought of having to do this without Clint.

But he soon woke, and recovered steadily over the coming days. He was by her side when their sons were born, and they both though their family was complete.

* * *

**Alexis Kathryn Barton**

Elijah and Henry's fifth birthday was fast approaching when Natasha collapsed. Despite her protests Clint and Pepper had forced to go to the SHIELD medical bay to get checked over.

She'd been pushing herself too hard. She hadn't found the time to look after herself properly. Juggling three young children, Clint, going on missions with the Avengers and her added responsibilities at SHIELD; they were clearly catching up to her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten properly. She'd had coffee though. A lot of coffee.

The doctor entered her room, smiling, that one word slipped from her mouth: 'pregnant'.

The news hit her like a brick wall, and Natasha felt instantly guilty. She'd been ignoring her body. Not giving it what it needed. Not noticing the signs. And in doing so, she'd unknowingly put her child at risk. Clint gripped her hand; his face alight with joy as he smiled reassuringly at her.

The doctors had refused to let her leave at first. But promises from both Clint and Pepper that they'd keep an eye on her, and the fact her sons birthdays were the following day softened their resolve and she was finally allowed home.

Evie was thrilled. She wanted a sister. There were 'too many boys living in the tower' she'd stated. The boys were happy too. Natasha looked at them; three smiling faces and she couldn't believe how lucky she was.

The rest of her pregnancy passed under the careful watch of everyone living in the tower. The guys had all become great with kids. Bruce and Tony spent hours in the labs with Elijah; his bright mind absorbing all the information they gave him. While Henry and Thor spent their time running around, playing soccer and climbing trees; anything active to pass the time. Steve was closest with Evie; they both had a keen interest in history, and there was nothing Steve loved more than to read to her, and nothing Evie loved more than listening to her godfather reading her favourite stories. The added help from the team allowed Clint to spend some time alone with his wife before the baby was born.

Alexis was the first child to inherit Natasha's red hair, she was so much like Nat, she was all Clint saw when he gazed at his daughter.

"No more" Natasha had told him sleepily, gently stroking Clint's arm as he cradled their youngest child. But looking down into Alexis' bright green eyes, watching her smile up at him, Clint found himself greedily wishing for more.

* * *

**Cecelia Grace Barton**

Clint paced back and forth, Alexis was restless. Natasha was much better at settling her than Clint was. Feeling helpless, he walked up the hallway to check on his older children.

Evie was now nine and if she didn't get a move on she'd be late for school. Clint found her sat in her favourite chair, still in her pyjamas, a huge book clutched in her tiny hands. A smile formed on Clint's face when he saw the title of the book; it was in Russian.

"Evie, sweetie, you really have to get dressed"

"Just one more minuted dad"

"One minute" he agreed, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

He could hear the destruction coming from the boys room as he headed down the hall. He opened the door to their bedroom to see the two six year olds playing enthusiastically with the spaceships they'd build with their lego.

"Elijah, Henry. Go get some breakfast. You can play after school"

"Okay dad!"

"Race you!"

"No running in the house!" Clint called after them, but they'd already gone.

He walked back into his and Natasha's room, Alexis still in his arms, as Natasha strode toward him. A small plastic stick clutched in her hand.

"This is definitely the last one!" She stated firmly, a slight smile forming on her face as she swapped Alexis for the piece of plastic and left the room, Alexis, finally quiet in her mothers arms.  
He watched her walk down the hall until she turned the corner and was out of sight. 'Damn' he though, 'how'd i get so lucky?' Clint looked down, confusion at Natasha's statement still present in his mind. Realisation found him as he saw what was clutched in his hand; two pink lines clearly evident on the pregnancy test.

All he could do was smile.


	2. The Start of it All

_This is the conversation Clint and Natasha had when she first told him she was pregnant._

* * *

For the first time in his life Clint couldn't think of anything to say, his jaw slack with shock, he did nothing but stare at Natasha; waiting for his brain to comprehend what she'd told him.

Finally finding himself, he took her hands and pulled her from the floor, leading her into the bedroom, they sat together on her bed.  
Clint didn't take his eyes off her the entire time, Natasha avoided his gaze with expert stubbornness.

Eventually he broke the expansive silence which had fallen over them;

"What do you... What do you want to do?"

She didn't respond, she couldn't respond. She was still in shock; as far as she was aware this couldn't happen, it was impossible...

She had been feeling ill for weeks; she was tired and ached everywhere. She only went to the doctors after Steve expressed his concerns about her to Coulson; who'd practically dragged her down to medical.

The doctors on SHIELD's staff were familiar with her medical history and seemed equally shocked to learn of her condition. They'd wanted to run some tests, but Natasha had refused and fled back to the tower, seeking comfort in the one person she trusted above all others.  
She knew what she wanted to do, but she was scared. She didn't know how to admit it to Clint, not sure if he felt the same.

The silence stretched out in front of them, it wasn't until a tear silently fell down Natasha's cheek did Clint speak again.

"Natasha, I'm here. I'm always here for you. Whatever you want..."

It unnerved him that he didn't know how she was feeling, he always knew how she felt, what she was thinking, and how to make her feel better. But this was all completely new and unexpected.

The tears continued to fall down Natasha's face, but eventually she turned to face him, she saw reassurance in his eyes. His arms wrapped round her and pulled her towards him, he kissed her gently on the cheek and waited patiently.

"I didn't think this could ever... I was sure I couldn't..."

"Tasha, it's okay"

"What do we do?"

She was sat between his legs now, leaning her back on his chest and her head on his shoulder. She never felt safer than when she was with him. His hands rested over her abdomen, something he had done hundreds of times before, but a gesture which took on a new meaning now.

"I always wanted to be a dad" he admitted, almost a whisper.

Natasha smiled at him, she felt instantly better knowing that he wanted it too. That she wasn't alone. She kissed his jaw, turning in his hold to wrap her arms around him in return. She exhaled deeply, a calming breath to steady herself before she spoke again;

"We're really going to do this? We're going to have a baby?"

"We're going to have a baby" Clint responded, a grin on his face, excitement gleaming in his eyes.


	3. Doctors

_Follows on from the previous chapter_

* * *

SHIELD had doctors galore on staff; psychiatrists, physiotherapists, surgeons, even dentists, but they did not have any obstetricians.  
When Natasha found out she was pregnant, her and Clint had to visit a local hospital to receive check-ups, scans and treatment. SHIELD set them up with ALIAS' under the names Julie and Michael Williams, complete with a full (slightly fabricated) medical history.

But when they showed up to their 20 week appointment; Natasha's arm in a sling, broken wrist and a black eye (a bad reconnaissance mission had resulted in Natasha being thrown through a second storey window), Michael Williams was reported to the police and social services, he was banned from the hospital until a full investigation was carried out, and several safeguarding measures were put into place for Julie Williams and her baby.

Between them; Hill and Coulson eventually persuaded Fury to hire an OBGYN, and later; a paediatric doctor.

Fury may not exactly be happy about his top two field agents having a baby together, but he had a soft spot for them. He liked to see them happy; and they were happiest when they were together.


	4. Nightmares

_In this fic Natasha is six months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha had always suffered nightmares, since being a child she had dreamed of death, torture and terror. Now as an adult she often dreamed of the red in her ledger and the horrific treatment she received as a child in the red room; she had nightmares of her past. Sometimes the nightmares subsided and would be absent for months, but other times they recurred night after night; preventing her from sleeping.  
Now she was pregnant; the dreams increased in frequency and became more and more vivid.

She often woke herself up; short of breath, covered in sweat and tears streaming down her face. It was getting to the point where she was becoming anxious about going to sleep; not wanting to relive her past sins in such vivid detail.  
She often fell asleep on the couch in the lounge, not wanting to disturb Clint's sleep aswell. She'd watch films well into the night in an effort to stay awake, she read books and did jigsaws, baked or tidied; anything to put off going to sleep.

She was exhausted; pregnancy was taking it's toll and the lack of sleep was starting to affecting her health; she was pale and had lost her appetite.  
The doctors were worried, the team were concerned, and Clint was anxious. Natasha, as always, pretended she was fine; insisted it was nothing to worry about and refused to talk about it.

Then one night the nightmares became so intense she woke Clint.  
She was shouting and screaming, crying in her sleep but was so exhausted she didn't wake.

"Мне очень жаль! Мне очень жаль! Нет, пожалуйста! Пожалуйста, не надо! Стоп! Пожалуйста? Пожалуйста, прекратите!" _(I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! No please! Please don't! Stop! Please? Please stop!)_

"Tasha? Tasha! Wake up, it's just a dream! You're home, you're safe" he held her wrists to try to keep her still, hoping it would help to calm her but she fought and struggled; still crying. It pained Clint to see his wife with such fear etched on her face; she looked so small and childlike and Clint wanted nothing more than to take her pain away.

"Не надо, пожалуйста, не надо! Он не был - не больно! Пожалуйста, пожалуйста, остановитесь!" _(Don't, please don't! It wasn't- no it hurts! Please please stop!)_

Clint scrambled from the bed and flicked on the light, returning to his wife's side; he wiped the tears away and waited til the worse was over.  
It was almost another 40 minutes of shouting, screaming and crying until Natasha started to settle slightly. She woke herself and sat bolt upright, lashing out at Clint before she realised who he was. Expertly Clint dodged her fists and grabbed hold of her

"Tasha, Tasha it's me. You're okay. It's all okay"

Natasha took comfort in the safety and familiarity of Clint's arms, he held her close until her breathing steadied.

"Tasha?"

She didn't respond but he felt her nod slightly against his chest

"Tasha, we need to talk about this"

Still no response but another nod, she stiffened slightly in his hold before shifting back to look him in the eye.

"There's just so much red Clint" she admitted, fresh tears falling from her tired eyes.

"Nat, forget about your ledger, it's not important right now"

"Of course it is Clint! It's more important now than ever! We're going to have a baby, how can we bring a life into this world; an innocent and defenseless baby when we have so much still to atone for?"

"Natasha, we do good every day. Your ledger is clean"

"Clint, it'll never be clean... You don't know what-"

"Tasha it doesn't matter what you did in the past. What matters is what you do now, the choices you make. The fact that we're going to have a baby should tell you that it's all forgotten. It's wiped; you're allowed to be happy now"

"I'm just so scared Clint, what if I pass on my sins to the baby, what if-"

"Tasha no, the baby, our baby is going to be fine. We're going to love them more than anything, the team and our friends are gonna be here to help us look after them and raise them and maybe one day we'll have another and they can have a baby brother or sister"

Natasha smiled, his words finally sinking in. "You're already thinking about having more children?"

"Why not?"

"Clint, this one isn't even here yet"

"I know, but it's exciting. I can't wait to have a house full, well... a floor full of kids"

"A floor full? How many exactly?!"

"I dunno, like seven or eight?"

"I hope you're joking Clint Barton!" she laughed.

Clint was glad the mood was lightened; his wife seemed more like herself already. Natasha never realised how much she kept to herself; failing to share things that were bothering her was a trait Clint had long since learned to live with, ever since their first mission when she broke her wrist and cracked three ribs, not telling him at all until medical pointed it out after their evacuation.

"Well why not? How many did you want?"

"I wasn't really thinking past the one just yet"

"I think you'll change your mind after he's here" Clint said, placing his hand on her stomach

"He?"

"Yeah I think it's a boy. Me and Tony made a bet"

"You really need to stop making bets with Stark"

"Why?"

"Don't you remember the Jets game?"

"Yeah..?"

"You lost and had to plant a stink bomb in Fury's office; you were on paperwork duty for three weeks"

"Yeah well, this time I'm sure"

"What did you bet?"

"Tasha I –"

"Clint, what did you bet?"

"If I'm right I get to name his first child"

"Please tell me if you're wrong Tony Stark does not get to name our baby"

"No, I would never bet that!"

"Well then what did you bet?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm not wrong"

"And if you are?"

"If I am; Tony gets to be godfather to all our children, he also gets to read both our SHIELD files and I have to convince Steve that Coulson is flirting with him"

"You know Phil has a girlfriend right?"

"Yeah, but Steve doesn't"

Natasha rolled her eyes; her husband could be so childish.

Clint looked at the time; it was gone 3am and they both had a meeting at 8 with Fury;

"You ready to get some sleep?"

Natasha nodded, curling up in Clint's arms.  
This time she slept soundly; dreaming of the future, her future with Clint and their children. It was the first time in months she'd slept properly and woke feeling rested and content. Still in Clint's arms; safe and happy.


	5. Class

_In this chapter Natasha is seven months pregnant_

* * *

The whole Avengers team was gathered in the main room of the communal floor of the tower; expecting a phone call from Director Fury about an upcoming mission they'd been assigned.  
Bruce and Steve were both making dinner, Tony sat with his laptop, Thor paced impatiently up and down the room; waiting for the meeting to conclude so he could go and meet Jane. Natasha was lay on the sofa; a bowl of blueberries balanced on her ever growing abdomen while Clint sat at the other end; her feet propped up in his lap.  
Finally the large TV screen turned on; revealing Director Fury in his office as the video conference started. Fury, not one for pleasantries, went straight to business;

"The latest mission requires us to obtain information on a Dr. Alex Matherson; an engineer working out of NYU"

"What do we want from him?" Tony asked, not looking up from his computer screen.

"We think he's designing weapons and selling them to terrorist cells, if he's not; someone in his department is"

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Steve asked, appearing next to Clint eating a large sandwich.

"Well, Matherson's wife is four months pregnant..." Fury began, Clint and Natasha suddenly looked up; sensing where this conversation was heading, "The two of them attend Lamaze classes two times a week regularly; it's the only opportunity we'd have to get close to him"

"Sir, with all due respect but are you mad? Natasha is seven months pregnant and is not on active duty" Steve said, glancing at his teammate who was lay of the sofa; hands on her swollen abdomen as the baby kicked.

"I realise that Captain Rogers; but the weapon designs are sophisticated and this is a vital mission; we cannot afford for these weapons to fall into the wrong hands! This is our only choice"

"Well Nat, looks like we get to go to those antenatal classes anyway"

"Agent Barton you will not be needed to accompany Agent Romanoff on this mission... Mister Stark will"

"WHAT?!" both Natasha and Tony asked in unison.

* * *

Acting as a newlywed couple did not come naturally to Natasha and Tony. Their alias' were Grace and Richard Mills; married for two years they were now expecting their first baby. Richard was a pilot and Grace was a teacher, new to the city they didn't really know anyone.

They entered the first Lamaze class; Tony's hand awkwardly placed at the base of Natasha's back (as per her instruction) and immediately located their target.

"Tony, seriously, you're supposed to be my husband. Act like it; I'm not going to break your fingers if you touch me"

"Is that good forever or just for now?"

"Don't push it Stark"

"Got it widow. Right, now what?"

"Go introduce yourself to Matherson; i'll sign us in"

Tony nodded and left, walking awkwardly over to the back corner where Matherson stood; looking equally uncomfortable

"First time here?" Matherson asked

"Erm yeah, we just got back from Europe. You?"

"No, we've been a few times. First baby?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same"

Matherson's wife; Kelly, joined him, glanced at Tony and dragged her husband away. She was rude and unfriendly and Tony immediately didn't like her.

* * *

After their third Lamaze class Tony was making progress with Matherson, Natasha however was finding it difficult to get anywhere with Kelly.

Tony almost blew their whole cover when the baby kicked particularly hard; Natasha recoiled slightly in pain and Tony asked loudly whether he should ring Clint.

* * *

After the seventh Lamaze class Tony had gotten used to feeling the baby kick, to touching Natasha; holding her hand and sitting with his arm around her, acting the part came easier for him. Natasha was finding it difficult; now she was eight months pregnant and she was incredibly uncomfortable, her hormones were getting the better of her and she wished Clint were with her; as supportive as Tony was, he wasn't her husband.

Kelly remained unresponsive and didn't speak to anyone.

Excusing herself to the rest room once again, Natasha found herself listening to Kelly shouting down the phone;

"I told you I'd sent it when I can!" ... Next week!" ... "And I want my payment before I send the designs!"  
She slammed the phone shut and stormed back down the hallway;

"Oh, it's you" Kelly said, as she almost stormed right into Natasha

"Yeah, need to pee again; baby keeps kicking me in the bladder"

"Hrm" was all Kelly replied before storming back to class.

Natasha rang Tony; Matherson wasn't the one selling designs. His wife was stealing them and selling them behind his back.

* * *

Natasha's part of the mission was complete. They'd found the suspect; now all she wanted to do was go home and lie down. Her back ached and she wasn't lying when she'd told Kelly about the baby kicking.

Tony appeared by her side, and together they went to the exit.

Outside they were met by Kelly;

"Who are you?"

Natasha rolled her eyes as Tony looked to her.  
Coulson appeared behind Kelly and took her into custody before she could realise what exactly had happened, leaving Matherson still inside the Lamaze class alone.

"Well that was easier than usual"

"Yeah, now I wanna get home. Come on Stark"

"Right behind you widow"


	6. Sleeping Difficulty

_In this chapter Natasha is in her third trimester_

* * *

By the time she was six months pregnant Natasha was having great difficulty sleeping.

She didn't sleep terribly well at the best of times. But now she found herself lying restlessly in bed at all hours of the night. Tossing and turning; uncomfortable and frustrated she couldn't force herself back to sleep. Under normal circumstances she'd go to the gym or for a run in order to tire herself out before going back to bed, but these were both activities she was no longer supposed to do.

Her restlessness was starting to disturb Clint too, so she'd taken to wondering around the tower.

* * *

**THOR**

When Natasha reached six months Clint was sent away on a mission for three weeks to Guatemala.  
One evening she found herself alone in the tower; Tony and Pepper were out for the night, Steve was on training drills with the Army, Bruce was using the SHIELD labs and Thor had been back on Asgard for the past four months.

It was almost 1am and Natasha had no inclination to go to bed, realising the time; she put down her book and went over to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich.  
She suddenly sensed someone behind her; she turned, gun raised, and found herself aiming her weapon at none other than Thor. His face was smiling and warm, and Natasha felt stupid for holding her gun up at him.

"Lady Natasha! I am pleased to see you"

"Hi Thor" she smiled, placing her gun back in its holster "What are you doing back?"

"I missed Midgard and my friends. I also sensed you were lonely"

"I'm fine"

"But you are here alone?"

"Yes but-"

"Then it is good I came"

"Thor, I'm pregnant, not a child. I don't need supervision all the time"

"I know you are most capable of taking care of yourself Lady Natasha, however It does not mean you cannot receive a visitor"

She nodded, realising only now how lonely she had felt before Thor's arrival.

The two sat on the couch and talked for hours; Thor told Natasha of Asgard, and what he'd been doing during his time there. Natasha loved to hear the stories Thor told of his home, and took comfort in his company. Natasha updated Thor on everything that had happened in his absence; the missions the team had been on, Fury's increasingly worsening mood, and how the rest of the team were. Thor questioned Natasha relentlessly about her and the baby, explaining the many differences between pregnancy on Midgard and on Asgard.

When Tony and Pepper returned to the tower the next morning, they found Thor asleep on the couch, Natasha using his lap as a pillow as she slept curled up at the other end.

Pepper smiled to herself as she placed a blanket over them while Tony turned on the coffee machine.

* * *

**STEVE**

One Tuesday night, during her seventh month at 2am Natasha ran into Steve who was coming in from a run.

"Wh – Whats up Nat? Do you need me to get someone? Clint?"

"No, I'm fine thanks Steve" she smiled at his overreaction. "Where've you been?"

"Just a quick run"

"At 2am?"

"Couldn't sleep"

"I know the feeling" she sat the table, gladly taking the bottle of water Steve offered her.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just... Restless"

"You should get your rest while you can. From what I hear you're not going to get much when the babys born"

"Yeah, I think that's part of the problem"

Steve looked at her, concern worn all over his face. He sat down next to her before asking; "What do you mean?"

"I'm just..." she took a deep breath. "Scared" she admitted

"Come on Nat, you'll be a great mom"

"How do you know, I never even knew my mom, I don't even really know what i'm supposed to do"

"You'll figure it out Nat. I have every faith in you" he smiled at her confidently

Steve's confidence did nothing to quell the panic and fear that had been rising steadily over the past seven months, ever since she'd found out she was pregnant she'd done nothing but worry about all the ways in which she would mess this up. Having been raised in a spy training facility since her own parents were murdered when she was only a child herself; she wasn't familiar with the role of a parent. Clint was so excited and carefree which made her worry even more. He would be a great dad, she knew it, she just didn't have the same confidence in her own abilities.

Steve seemed to read her worry and fear, placing his hand over hers he said;  
"Nat, we're all here for you. All of us. Whatever you need. All you have to do is ask"

* * *

**TONY**

Tony had snuck onto Clint and Natasha's floor of the tower, thinking everyone was out, in order to make a few adjustments to the nursery he'd built for the baby. Little did he know Natasha had just fallen asleep after being awake all night.

He was just in the middle of changing the settings on the security system he'd insisted on putting in place; when the alarm went off. Hitting the reset code it eventually subsided. He was just in the middle of sending a 'false alarm' message to SHIELD when Natasha appeared behind him;

"What the hell are you doing Stark?"

"Natasha, I'm sorry I thought you were out!"

"Doesn't answer my question"

"I just wanted to make sure everything was ready"

Natasha went and sat (with some difficulty) next to Tony on the floor, surrounded by his tools and various bits of wires and scraps of metal.

"Tony, you know I'm not due for another month and a half yet right?"

"I know, but there's nothing wrong with being well prepared"

"Why exactly does the baby's room have an alarm?"

"You never know. I just want to make sure it's always safe, so we don't have to worry too much"

"Tony..." Natasha suddenly felt very fond of the man sat opposite her; the use of the word 'we' gave her more comfort than she'd have thought possible; the whole team were going to be here to help protect her baby if it were needed.

"I'm just updating the software, only authorised people can enter the room without the alarm going off. If the alarm does go off it'll sent an alert to all six of us and Pepper, as well as to SHIELD. So I need a list of all the people you want to allow access to; so far I've got you and Clint; obviously, and then there's me, Pepper, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Jane, Darcy, Maria and Coulson. I didn't know whether you'd want Fury or no so I've left him off..."

"That's great, thanks Tony" the sincerity in her voice didn't pass his attention and he found himself smiling at the approval.

"So anyway... You guys feel free to name the baby after me if you want"

"I don't think so Tony"

"What's wrong with Tony?"

"I've been wondering that for years"

"Tony is a great name"

"You don't even know if we're having a boy or a girl"

"If it's a boy: Anthony, and if it's a girl – Antonia. Sorted"

"Tony-"

"Aw come on widow, I'm never going to have kids... Name one of yours after me!"

"Stark; I'm not naming my child after you, and what do you mean by 'one of'? This is it. One and only! Besides, you don't know you'll never have kids"

"Have you met me? There's no way i'll ever have kids. And I bet you you'll have more kids"

"I don't make bets"

"Shame; I bet your husband you'd have five"

"Five?! I really don't think so! What did you bet?"

"That you'd name your fifth child after me"

"There's no way we're ever going to have five children Stark"

"We'll see..."

* * *

**BRUCE**

When Natasha was eight months pregnant she suffered from terrible back ache; one Sunday evening when Clint was away and she couldn't sleep, she found herself on the communal floor; lay on the couch, propped up on a pile of pillows reading her favourite Russian novel.

"Nat, You alright?"

"Bruce. Hi. What are you doing up at 4am?"

"I ran out of coffee in my lab; what are you doing up at 4am?"

"Can't sleep"

"Braxton Hicks again?"

"No, just back ache"

"Here, sit forward"

Bruce helped Natasha sit upright before sliding in to sit behind her. He put his hands gently on her back, waiting for her approval before he started rubbing in a soothing motion. It relieved so much tension in her that she felt almost instantly sleepy.

"Did everything go okay at your latest check-up?"

"Yeah everything's fine"

"Did Clint make it this time?"

"No, he's in Taiwan"

"You know, if you ever need anybody..."

"I know. Thanks Bruce" she smiled. The whole team had been so supportive of her and Clint; to the point that even Tony offered to accompany her to her appointment that day.

I wasn't long before Natasha was finally feeling comfortable enough to sleep, and she dozed off right there on the couch. Smiling, Bruce lifted her from the sofa and carried her up to her floor, placing her gently in her bed he whispered "Goodnight Nat, sleep well" before turning to leave.  
He felt extremely happy that Natasha felt comfortable with him, he never thought he'd earn that right.  
He'd been especially careful around her since the events of New York, but they'd formed a friendship and his fears of hurting her had subsided. But when she'd told him she was pregnant his fears and worry had returned and he'd felt awkward in her presence, however Natasha's lack of fear towards him had reminded him of who he was; he wasn't the same man as he had been, he would never hurt his friends; and he relished the time he spent with them.

* * *

**PEPPER**

One Friday night when Natasha was eight and a half months pregnant she found Pepper returning late from a meeting at Stark Industries

"Hey Tasha, what you doing up at" she checked her watched, looking somewhat surprised at the time "2.30?"

"Nothing much. I just can't sleep"

"Want a drink?"

"What I really want is a vodka..."

"Can't help you there, I can get you a green tea?"

"Yes please"

Pepper busied herself in the kitchen while Natasha struggled onto one of the stools

"You picked a name yet?"

Natasha groaned slightly

"That bad huh?"

"We just can't agree. We only just agreed the surname would be Barton"

"Can't you compromise and use the other names if you have any more kids?"

"More kids?! I don't think so Pepper. One is enough"

"You never know Nat" she said with a knowing wink

"What about you and Tony? You ever consider having kids?"

"I don't think it's anything we've ever even discussed"

"Why not?"

"Did you and Clint discuss it?"

"No. It was more of an accident..."

"I think it'd have to be that way for me and Tony. We're both so busy we'd never plan for it, but if we did; I'd be happy... Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, yeah I do" Natasha replied; rubbing at her stomach.

* * *

**CLINT**

When Natasha was nine months pregnant and just a few days from her due date she was absolutely exhausted, more exhausted than she'd been since being a child; going days without sleep.  
She lay awkwardly and uncomfortably in bed as Clint slept soundly beside her. Frustrated, she woke him up. She tried to do it nicely at first, but when he didn't stir she elbowed him sharply; which worked perfectly.

"Wha- What's wrong?!"

"Nothing"

"So why'd you wake me at... 3.30?"

"I can't sleep and it's your fault"

"My fault? Why?" at this point he moved to turn on the lamp, repositioning himself to sit closer to Natasha, placing his arm behind her, pulling her closer to him and kissing her forehead.

Natasha sighed heavily in response

Clint kissed her once again, this time on her lips and was slightly relieved when she kissed him back. He placed his hand on her stomach and smiled when the baby kicked

"I can't believe we're going to be parents" Clint smiled down to Natasha

"Me either"

"I can't wait"

Natasha smiled; "Me either"

"Are you tired yet?"

"Clint, I'm always tired. I just can't sleep"

"You know, in all the time i've known you, you always slept on your stomach. Maybe that's why you can't sleep?"

"You waited til now to tell me that?!"

"Well, I never really thought about it til now"

She sighed once again, watching as Clint gently stroked her stomach. She found herself drifting slowly to sleep in the comfort of Clint's arms.

A few hours later Natasha was awoken with a sharp stabbing pain across her abdomen. Clint woke too, sensing her distress;

"Is it time?"

Natasha nodded as another painful contraction ripped through her.

Clint smiled the biggest grin Natasha had seen; "We're going to be parents!"


	7. Almost Home

_In this chapter Evie is a newborn_

* * *

Clint was stood by Natasha's bedside cradling his tiny baby.  
She still didn't have a name; they'd been unable to decide and she was known as 'Baby Barton' at the moment. It'd been something the two had discussed, and argued about, a lot in the past few months. Natasha wanted 'Evelyn', Clint wanted 'Adelaide'. Natasha wanted to give her a Russian middle name, Clint wanted to use Natasha as her middle name. They'd been no closer to choosing a boy's name either and the day had taken them both by surprise.

Tony, Steve, Bruce, Thor and Pepper all crowded into the tiny room; Clint and Natasha had had a baby three hours previously and they were finally allowed to come and visit. They took turns holding the baby, amazed at how tiny and perfect she was. She looked exactly like Natasha.

"You sure she's yours?" Tony joked. Natasha, unable to hit him glared, Pepper hit him round the head instead.

The baby was passed back to her father once more and fell asleep promptly in his arms.

Pepper was in the middle of discussing Tony's latest idiocies with Natasha when the panic in her voice made Clint tear his gaze away from his daughter.  
Machines were suddenly blaring and Natasha had become unresponsive, pale and limp. Medical personnel rushed into the room, alerted by the sounds of the machines.  
Only Pepper's comforting hand placed on his arm reminded Clint that he held his child in his arms. He carefully passed the child to Pepper and rushed to his wife's side. He gripped her hand and whispered into her ear; begging and pleading with her to be okay.

The rest of the team left the room as more medical staff arrived; bringing with them various pieces of equipment, tubes, medications and bloods. It wasn't long before Clint too was ushered from the room in order for the medical staff to do their job.

They all stood around in silence, no one knowing quite what to say to comfort their friend. The baby started crying from Pepper's arms; Clint looked up with wet eyes and went to take back his daughter. The cries soon subsided but holding his daughter made Clint's heart ache. His wife was on the other side of the door fighting for her life, and his daughter, their daughter, her daughter looked so much like her.

Coulson soon arrived, and so did Hill. Jane and Darcy arrived later, but there was still no update on Natasha.  
All they'd been told was that she'd had what they suspected was an amniotic fluid embolism; she'd seemed fine, felt fine and then suddenly collapsed. Her blood pressure had plummeted and her heart rhythm had become irregular, breathing had slowed and then stopped and she'd had to be intubated. She'd soon fallen into a coma.  
The medical staff had warned Clint of the potential complications of an AFE; they'd also told him she was unlikely to ever recover.  
But they didn't know Natasha, he had to believe that she'd pull through.

Clint was beside himself with worry; he paced the corridors or sat by her side, never letting his daughter leave his arms. He was terrified and furious and distraught at the same time.

It had been three days and Clint still hadn't slept. The others took it in turns to sit outside Natasha's room; incase Clint ever needed someone to talk to, someone he trusted to hold the baby so he could sleep or eat, but he never did.

After five days medical staff insisted the baby be taken home, she needed to settle in, get into a routine, and get away from the potential infections carried by staying in a medical facility. Clint felt stuck, he couldn't leave Natasha, but he needed to look after his daughter; that was his job.

"Have you got a name yet?" the nurse asked, filling out the discharge paperwork

"Evelyn Irina Barton" Clint answered; he knew Natasha would win eventually.

Back at the tower Clint finally relinquished his hold on Evelyn so he could take a shower. While Darcy fed the baby Tony offered some words of wisdom to his friend.

"Hey Clint"

"Oh, hey Tony"

"I just wanted to talk to you, if that's okay?"

"You don't normally ask"

"You don't usually mind"

Clint tried to busy himself in order to avoid the conversation he was sure would follow. Tony would offer his support; guarantee him everything would be okay, that everyone was there for him and Evie.  
Clint knew all that.  
Clint wasn't worried about being alone, he was terrified of not being with Natasha. When they'd first met the two assassins had been enemies, but he'd seen something in her that no one else had bothered to see, and he'd offered her a chance. Slowly, together, they'd learnt to trust, they'd found hope and eventually learned to love. They'd fixed each other, and somebody like that is someone you can never replace.

Tony still spoke on but Clint didn't hear the words.

Tony's phone rang, interrupting his dialogue. Answering it; he handed it to Clint

"It's for you"

Clint looked at the phone, confused, before realising his own phone was probably dead.

"Hello?"

It was Coulson;  
"Clint, she's awake"


	8. Loss

_In this chapter; Evie is almost two and Natasha is six months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha was sat in a large room, empty of all other people and distractions, staring at a pile of paperwork.  
She was bored out of her mind, her husband and other Avengers were downstairs being briefed about their upcoming mission by Phil. She sighed as she felt the baby kick; it was just as restless as she was.  
Pepper was looking after Evie for the day, the three had planned to go to the zoo before Fury had called her in to complete all her paperwork before her maternity leave started, now she wished she'd been more organised and kept on top of it.

Fury appeared at that moment, dumping several more files on the desk;

"Your husband's been a bad influence on you, your paperwork always used to be in on time"

She pulled a face, playing with her pen and making no progress on the work in front of her. Instead she'd compiled a list of gift ideas for Evie's second birthday, coming up in three weeks time.

Suddenly an alarmed sounded loudly. Fury barked something down his com unit before turning to Natasha;

"Stay here, this floor will be locked down. I'll be back when i've dealt with this mess"

"But what-" she was cut off by Fury's abrupt exit.

Resting back on her chair, she rubbed at her stomach and sighed, she was tired of feeling so useless.

A few minutes later she heard a loud bang down the corridor, followed by hurried talking and footsteps. Natasha peered round the corner to see several men breaking into the archive office where all the field mission paperwork was kept. If she was being honest; she was slightly impressed. She'd never known anyone (other than herself) able to crack the security on that office.

Only then did she realise she didn't have her usual com unit in. Reaching into her pocket for her phone, she found herself with a gun placed against her temple;

"Was machst du denn hier?" _(What are you doing here?)_

Natasha struggled to stand back upright from her squatted position, keeping her hands in full view. She'd already dialed Clint's number and knew he'd answer, even if he were in the middle of a battle...

"Ich hätte fragen sich das Gleiche von Ihnen" _(I should ask the same of you)_ she responded, in the same flawless accent as the man holding the gun.

The use of his native language seemed to have thrown the man, and she took her opportunity when she saw it. Grabbing his wrist with both hands, she turned and pulled his arm sharply downward over her shoulder, breaking it instantly. She elbowed him sharply and knocked him unconscious. She used his weapon to take out three of the other men, finding the clip only half full to begin with _(amateur!)_

She found herself slightly off balance as she took out the fifth man with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. She could hear Clint shouting her from the other end of her discarded phone, and that one moment distraction was all it took. One of the remaining men ran at her and tackled her to the floor. She slammed painfully into the wall before hitting the floor, her head colliding with the corner of the door as she fell.

* * *

Natasha was vaguely aware Clint had arrived; she heard her name called over and over. But that was all she noticed; her attention was otherwise focused on the searing pain through her abdomen, and the throbbing in her head. She felt lightheaded and dizzy; as if she was about to fall, despite knowing she was already lay on the floor.

* * *

"Tasha? Tasha! Come on Tasha; you're okay! You're okay right?"

Natasha was lay unconscious on the floor; the guys who'd attacked the lower floors of HQ had been a distraction, allowing a team sent to bypass them to the uppermost floor in order to steal some damn paperwork. Unfortunately Natasha had been there; she'd successfully taken out five of the men alone and six months pregnant, the ones who were still alive were now in custody waiting to be questioned.

The floor had been locked down, which resulted in a delay in the team reaching her; the overrides took time and it was over 30 minutes from when Natasha had rang him, to Clint reaching her. Giving the remaining men time to escape with their files.

He stroked the hair from her bloodied head, tears rolling down his cheeks as waited for the medical team to arrive. The team were worried about moving her.

"You're gonna be okay ребенок _(baby)_. Me and Evie need you возлюбленный _(sweetheart)_

The other members of the team watched from down the hallway, Tony rang Pepper to let her know what had happened and to make sure she was free to stay with Evie for the night; the team would be staying at SHIELD until they knew their teammate was okay.

* * *

On reaching the medical bay Natasha had started to regain consciousness, groaning in pain and clutching her stomach.

"She's going into hypovolemic shock due to severe blood loss" the doctor told Clint as they wheeled his wife into surgery.

"But what-"

"Listen, both your wife and baby are at serious risk here Agent Barton, I really need to see to them. Someone will be down to talk to you in the next half hour or so, okay?"

"Right"

Clint's legs buckled as he sat down. Leaning against the wall and planting his face in his hands, Steve and Bruce appeared either side of him. Sitting silently, providing comfort in the best way they could.

Hour after hour went by, time ticked away but his team never left his side. No one said a word and in silence they waited. Four hours past before the surgeon appeared at the end of the hall. Clint stood and walked towards him, leaving his team gathered behind him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to look the doctor in his face.

"Your wife is in critical condition; she's lost a lot of blood! But I think she's out of the woods. Knowing Agent Romanoff she'll be awake soon"

"What about the baby?"

"I'm sorry; there was nothing we could do to save her."

"Her?"

"The placental abruption was severe, the trauma sustained during the fight caused the placenta to separate from the uterus, which is why your wife lost so much blood, but it also meant the baby wasn't getting enough oxygen"

"Can I see Nat?"

"Sure, she's in her usual room. Do you want me to update the others?"

"Yeah" Clint said, already on his way down the hallway to find his wife.

* * *

She was already awake from the anaesthetic; she was pale and tired, looking somewhat smaller than she had earlier; her stomach much flatter than the last time he'd seen her.

Approaching slowly he took her hand in his, brought it up to his face and kissed it gently.

"It was a girl" she whispered, turning to face him eventually as he lay next to her on the bed.

He nodded, reaching his arm round her shoulders and stroking her arm in a soothing motion.

"I'm sorry" she began, her voice breaking as tears fell down her face

"Natasha. No. I'm sorry. I should have been there; you shouldn't have been alone"

"Clint, I always thought I couldn't have children, maybe Evie was a fluke, maybe we can't... I'm sorry"

She admitted her biggest fear; she knew how much he longed for more children. Since Evie had been born she'd had two miscarriages, one so early she hadn't even known she was pregnant, the other was barely two months in.  
The doctors had assured her it wasn't her; that she could still have children, that sometime it just happened... And then she'd fallen pregnant once again; and she'd kept it to herself for so long, terrified it'd all go wrong once again. But after her 12 week check up; when the doctors assured her all was fine, she'd started to believe them.

Now this was harder; she'd felt her daughter move, she was used to the restless nights and the way she kicked extra hard when Clint placed his hands on her stomach. They had lost a baby.

* * *

They lay like that for the next few hours, until Natasha fell asleep in his arms and Clint finally cried for his loss.

He was interrupted by the doctor entering the room;

"I'm sorry to interrupt; only we need a name for the documents, did you have one or do you need some time?"

Clint though for a moment, appreciating the doctor referring to the death certificate as a 'document', it made it slightly easier to deal with; his daughter had a death certificate before she'd even lived.

"Julia Marie Barton"

It was something they'd discussed only the week before. They'd talked well into the night, laughing and joking; excited for their future...

Clint fell to sleep next to his partner; grateful that he still had her. Whatever had happened Natasha was still here, and for that he would forever be thankful.


	9. Need to Know

**In this chapter Evie is two**

* * *

Natasha had been so busy over the past few days and she'd completely lost track of time, it was only when she noticed the date did she realise

"Clint, I'm late"

"No you're not; Fury isn't expecting you for another hour. You have plenty of time"

Natasha watched as Evie stopped bouncing on their bed, she was waiting patiently for her dad to get dressed and take her to the park. Natasha had to be careful how she worded this; Evie was at an age where she listened to everything and repeated it to everyone, and she was currently giving her mother's words her full attention. She was far too curious for her own good

"Not thatsort of late" she clarified

"What do you mean?"

Natasha groaned at her husband's ignorance, she'd explain it later when there wasn't someone else listening...  
She went to work with the full intention of buying a pregnancy test on the way home, but SHIELD was in chaos when she made it there and she spent the whole day run ragged, the whole thing slipped from her mind.

* * *

Clint spend his day helping to build sandcastles and watching Evie dress up as a princess, they had a tea party and watched her favourite film; The Aristocats. Evie then helped him make dinner before Natasha got home.

"Daddy, is Mama gunna be late for dinner?"

"I don't think so baby spider"

"You sure?"

"Yeah sweet, I'm sure"

"But what'd she mean?"

"Erm... I'm not sure Eve, but she won't be late tonight"

"Okay Daddy" she smiled, running to her room to retrieve the picture she'd spent all morning making for her Mom.

Clint sat on the sofa while Evie occupied herself with the Mr. Potato head Thor had gotten her, he was still thinking about the conversation this morning when Natasha came through the door.

Evie, in her usually way of greeting her parents, ran to her and threw herself into Natasha's arms. She told her all about her day, every last detail including what she'd eaten, before showing her the picture she'd drawn.

Natasha went to the bedroom to get changed and Clint followed, kissing her and taking her into his arms.

"Oh shit!" she mumbled against his chest, suddenly remembering her forgotten shopping trip

"What is it Nat?"

"Clint, this morning when I said I was late, what I meant was –"

Natasha stopped when she realised their daughter was stood in the doorway, listening once again to every word being said

"Mama?"

"What is it Лингпаука?"

Evie didn't answer, just looked at her inquisitively; head tilted to one side, her eyebrows drawn slightly while she thought. She was only two, but Natasha thought she'd probably figure it out before Clint at this rate...

"Evelyn sweetheart, you're going to miss the end of the film" Clint told her, referring to the Little Mermaid DVD he'd put on for her earlier. The little girl turned and ran.

"Tasha, I really don't-"

"Clint. My period is six days late"

"Oh"

"Oh?"

"That's great news!" he beamed. It was no secret he wanted more children. It'd been a shock when Natasha had found herself pregnant the first time, but a happy shock nonetheless. When Evie was 18 months old they found they were expecting their second daughter, but at six months, an attack at SHIELD and an injury endured by Natasha had taken that away from them.

They'd decided after that that they'd wait a while, maybe a year or two and plan for the next one, but this was only a few months later and was definitely not planned.

"Clint, I haven't taken a test or seen the doctor yet..."

"I know Tash, I shouldn't get my hopes up, but if you were; it'd be a good thing right?"

"It'd be a good thing" she smiled

"What's good thing Mama?"

"How does she do that?" Clint asked, referring to Evelyn's sudden and silent reappearance.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders with a smile

"She takes after you!" Clint whispered to Natasha while both turned to face their daughter.

He grabbed his daughter and ticked her, so much she could barely breathe from laughter. Evie struggled free and ran from the room.

"Do you have a test?" Clint asked, returning to his and Natasha's earlier conversation

"No Clint, I don't generally keep a supply of them" she said sarcastically

"I wonder if Pepper-"

"I'm not asking Pepper if she has any spare pregnancy tests lying round"

"I could go ask-"

"Clint, no!"

"But that means we'll have to wait til tomorrow"

"Clint, you're whining" Natasha laughed

"I just want to know for certain" he said

Natasha smiled at her husband and quickly kissed him before getting up to go see what her daughter was up to.

* * *

That night Clint was restless, he couldn't get the thought of having another baby out of his head. He wanted a large family, growing up in the circus had meant he was always around people but never had a proper family, so from a young age he had decided he wanted lots of kids. He never thought he'd be lucky enough to find someone like Natasha to share that dream with.  
But here he was, lying next to his wife, his daughter sound asleep in the next room, and the possibility of another baby.

"Tasha?" he whispered

"What?"

"You're awake?"

"Obviously"

"I can't sleep"

"Me either"

Clint flipped on the light and sat up

"Nat, if you're not pregnant, is it too soon to start trying again? I know we said we'd wait, and after last time... But, I think we're ready. Don't you?"

"Yeah, I think we're ready. I can't believe I'm agreeing with you"

"Me either" he smiled

"Don't get used to it"

Clint laughed, and watched as Natasha eventually fell asleep.

It was gone 5am when Clint finally dosed off, and it was quarter to six when he was woken by Evie climbing over him

"Eve, what are you doing?"

"Stealing Mommy's space"

"Where is Mommy?"

"Lounge" Evie said quietly, already nodding off back to sleep as she snuggled into Natasha's side of the bed

"Hey Tash, you sleep okay?"

"No not really, you"

"No, I'm gonna run to the store, I can't wait any longer..."

"Clint, it's not even six, the shops won't-"

"What is it Tasha?"

But she didn't reply, instead she turned and ran to the bathroom

...

He gave her a few minutes, but when she didn't reappear he knocked on the door, gently calling "Tasha, are you alright?"

"Mama!" Evie called and banged loudly on the door, looking up expectantly at her father

The door slowly opened, Clint found Natasha slumped on the floor

"Mama ill?" Evie asked sadly, stroking Natasha's cheek like she often did

Seeing the smile on Clint's face; Natasha scowled at him. Despite this being a good sign that she probably was pregnant, it was certainly an experience she hadn't been looking forward to repeating.

"I'm going to go to the shop now, okay?" Natasha nodded as Clint bend down to kiss her forehead.

"Come on lil' spider, you can come with me" he said as he left.

* * *

"Morning Clint" Steve greeted him as he boarded the elevator, "Morning Evie"

"Uncle Steeeeve!" Evie shouted happily as she jumped into his arms  
Steve smiled as he hugged his goddaughter

"And where are you going so early?" he asked her

"Shop" she informed him

"Oh really? Me too"

"Together?" she asked, looking to her dad

"Sure, why not" Clint smiled to Steve, sensing his job of secretly getting a pregnancy test had suddenly gotten ten times harder.

* * *

Two hours later Clint and Evie finally made it back to their floor, carrying seven shopping bags all full to the brim.

"Clint, what on earth?" Natasha asked from where she lay on the sofa

"Steve came to the shop with us" he explained

"But we just did the shopping two days ago; we're not going to have enough room to put everything"

Evie climbed on the sofa and fell promtply asleep clutching her pink rabbit Rozovyy.

"Hey Tash, now might be a good time" he said, referring to their now sleeping daughter

She agreed; "where is it?"

Clint looked down to the heap of bags by his feet and shrugged

* * *

Half an hour later they were nervously waiting for the result of the test.

That was when Tony and Pepper arrived...

"Are you guys okay?" Pepper asked several hours later, when Clint and Natasha had seemed absent and preoccupied all day, still not having had chance to look at the result of the pregnancy test

"Mommy is poorly" Evie informed her. Evie was stood on the sofa behind Pepper, brushing her long hair, listening to the adults conversations with avid interest

"Just a bit of food poisoning" Natasha offered as an excuse

"Clint cooking again?" Tony asked teasing. He scooped Evelyn up and threw her into the air. She giggled and screamed "Again Uncle Tony! Again!"

Pepper looked skeptically between the two assassins, but didn't bring it up again

The five of them ate dinner together and Pepper put Evie to bed before they left.

"Finally!" Clint exclaimed and Natasha laughed

"You ready?" Natasha asked him as he took her hand

"Are you?" he replied.

* * *

The two of them went to dig out the test from where it had hastily been hidden when their unexpected guests had arrived.

Two pink lines were clearly visible

"What does that mean?" Clint asked puzzled

"It's positive. Clint, I'm pregnant!" she beamed


	10. More Than Expected

**In this chapter Evie is two and Natasha is ****_almost_**** three months pregnant**

* * *

"Clint!"

"What is it Tasha?" he asked, sticking his head out of the bathroom while he brushed his teeth

"Are you sure you can't tell?"

"I'm sure!"

"You know for a spy you really suck at lying!"

"Tasha, I swear you can't-"

"Clint, I can barely fasten my jeans"

He laughed, noticing the open button just beneath her shield tee, which he now realised was actually his shield tee.

"Nat, I don't know why you don't just get out some of your old maternity clothes"

"Because everyone will notice and they'll figure it out, we agreed we wouldn't tell anyone until after the twelve week scan"

"They'll figure it out soon anyway Nat"

"See, I knew you could tell! I still fit in my regular clothes up until almost five months with Eve"

"We have a scan this afternoon; can't we tell them after that?"

"Clint we have a scan this afternoon only because because you went behind my back and told the doctor we were concerned about the growth and convinced him to do it two weeks early!"

Clint was a bit taken aback at that; he hoped Natasha wouldn't have known it was him who'd requested the early scan.  
But in all honesty, Natasha looked pregnant already, whereas last time she hadn't started to show until much (much) further along.

"I give up with these, I can't fasten them!" Natasha huffed, taking off the jeans she'd been wearing and throwing them at her husband.

They took Evie to preschool before going to work. They both finished for their lunch break and made their way down to medical.

Dr. Dench was waiting for them. After examining Natasha he did agree that she looked further along than they though she should be and agreed to perform a scan to confirm her due date.

"Oh. Okay, well that's not what I was expecting" he muttered to himself while watching the monitor

"What?" Clint asked, concerned

"Bear with me one moment while I get a second opinion" and he disappeared from the room, another doctor entered the room, repeated the procedure in almost complete silence before leaving the room as well.

Doctor Dench eventually rejoined them

"I just need to ask you a few questions before I discuss my findings with you okay?"

Clint and Natasha nodded

"How's your morning sickness been?"

"Terrible"

"Worse than last time?"

"Much worse" Natasha agreed

"What about tiredness and fatigue? Is that worse than last time"

Natasha nodded, not quite sure where he was going with this

"Mood swings? Feeling extremely emotional? Excessive crying?"

"No not really" Natasha answered, but the doctor was looking to Clint who nodded

"Clint!"

"Sorry Tasha, but you've been really emotional over the past few weeks"

"I have not"

"Tash, last night Evie told you she loved you and you cried for an hour"

"Anyway" the doctor cut in. He passed Natasha a print out of the ultrasound and pointed at it;

"You see here? This is your baby's head, and there's the back, and over here... This is another baby"

Natasha was completely silent clutching the photo, Clint didn't seem to fully comprehend the meaning;

"Another baby?"

"Yes"

"As in more than one?"

"Yes..."

"Two babies?"

"Mr Barton-"

"Twins?"

"Clint!" It seemed only Natasha could snap him out of it. "I think it's supposed to be me thats freaking out, not you"

"Right, sorry Nat"

"I know this is big news, but it does affect the way we manage your pregnancy. We'll need to keep a closer eye on you than we did last time. It's going to be hard work too. I'll go get another scan appointment sorted for two weeks time and bring you an information pack on multiple pregnancies. Do you have any questions?"

"Do you know if they're boys or girls? Or one of each?"

"Clint! No, we don't want to know"

"I thought we were going to find out this time?"

"No, I'm sorry Clint!" Natasha said, tears silently running down her cheeks

The doctor gave Clint a knowing smile before leaving the room

"I'm sorry" she told him again

"No, Tasha, I'm sorry. If you don't want to know then that's okay"

"You're sure?"

"I don't need to know Tasha, we can have fun guessing"

Natasha laughed as she wiped her cheeks

"Twins Tasha! Can you believe it?"

"No. Can you?"

"No. It certainly explains this though" he said, placing a hand on her stomach

"You swore you couldn't tell!"

"Sorry Tash, but it is kinda obvious. Everyone is going to notice soon, even Evie has noticed!"

"She has?!"

"Yeah, she asked if you'd been eating too much food" Clint laughed, but Natasha started crying again so he ran for a tissue.

_The next few months are gonna be fun!_ Clint thought, amazed no one at the tower had yet to pick on Natasha's pregnancy; between her already showing bump, and extreme emotional reactions; he'd say it was fairly obvious.


	11. Tact

_In this chapter; Evie is 2 and Natasha is three months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha walked onto the communal floor of the tower in order to grab a cup of coffee, (Clint had broken their coffee machine) when Tony and Steve noticed her they instantly stopped talking.

"What's going on?" she asked, pouring herself a cup

"Nothing" Steve answered quickly

She raised her eyebrow and Tony admitted; "Steve thinks you're pregnant!"

Natasha stopped, her mug halfway to her lips; "And why do you think that?"

"Nat, listen. Tony has no tact! I'm sorry we were talking about-"

"Oh my God! It's true isn't it?!" Tony interrupted, slamming his cup down on the counter

"Tony!" Steve elbowed him

"I mean, I know your uniform is getting a little tight and you've been a bit grouchy but I just thought-"

"Tony I'm begging you to please stop talking now!" Steve said, noticing the way Natasha still said nothing. "Natasha, again; I'm sorry!"

"No, it's true. You're right Steve"

Steve went to say something else, but found himself struggling for words.

Tony picked up the conversation instead; "I thought you didn't want any more kids?"

"It wasn't really... planned..." Natasha admitted, taking a seat. She imagined this was going to be a long conversation...

"Again?! Haven't you guys heard of birth control?"

"Tony you can't just-"

"Steve. Shush. Adults are talking"

Steve rolled his eyes and shot an apologetic look to Natasha.

"Tony, sometimes things just... happen"

"Yeah well 'things' have 'happened' twice now for you. Some of us have managed to have sex and not had any kids!"

"That you know of!"

The though made Tony slightly nervous, Natasha noticed and smiled.

"Well anyway, congratulations Natasha" Steve smiled at her, reveling in Tony's lack of ability to talk while he contemplated Natasha's last statement.

"Can I be godfather this time?" Tony re-entered the conversation

"No"

"Can I tell the others?"

"No"

"If it's a boy will you name him Anthony?"

"No"

"If it's a girl can you name her Antonia?"

"Definitely not"

"Can I make them a mini Iron Man suit?"

"Tony, no"

"You got anything else you want to tell us?"

"No"

"Liar!"

"How did you-"

"I didn't, now I do"

"Whatever Tony, I've got to go get Evie up"

"You can't leave yet Widow!"

"And why exactly is that?"

"You have a secret, teammates can't have secrets"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"What do you keep in the locked box under your bed?"

"That's none of your business Widow"

"What happened to no secrets?"

"That's different"

"Whatever. I don't really care, but I do need to leave now. Bye Stark. Later Steve!"

"Goodbye Natasha"

* * *

"Hey Clint"

"Oh hey Tony"

"Nat told us the big news! Congrats man"

"Oh thanks, I didn't think she wanted to tell anyone yet"

"Yeah, well. We kinda noticed"

"How?"

"Her uniforms getting a bit tight"

"Yeah, don't tell her that"

"She's getting a bit moody too"

"Don't tell her that either! The doctor said it'd probably be harder on her this time"

"Why?"

"Because it's bound to be isn't it?"

"And why exactly is that?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you that bit did she?"

"Tell me what bit?"

"The other bit"

"How am I supposed to know unless you tell me what you're referring to?"

"Nevermind... Wait and speak to Nat"

"Aw come on birdbrain, fess up!"

"Tasha is gonna kill me"

"So, come on!"

"Alright, we're having twins!" Clint smiled, glad he was finally able to share his exciting news with someone

"Twins?! Two babies?! So that means you'll have three in total?!"

"Yes Tony"

"Twins. Wow"

* * *

"So Nat, Clint told me your big secret"

"He did, did he?"

"Yeah; double troubles brewing"

"I'm gonna kill him"

"Relax Widow, your secrets safe with me, and I got you a present"

Natasha looked at him suspiciously

"Here" he handed over a bag, inside were two baby grows with 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' written on; in the style of Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat (Evie's favourite story, Tony had to read it to her at least once a week!) and a tshirt for Evie with 'Big Sister' written across it.

"Thank you Tony" Natasha said, smiling. Tony walked over to her and hugged her, he could be nice sometimes.

"Can I be godfather now?"

"I'll think about it"


	12. Hostages

_In this chapter; Evie is two and Natasha is five months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha stood in the line in the bank, not quite sure why it was so busy on a Saturday morning. Clint joined her, holding Evie in her pink ballet leotard and repeating to her how well she'd done in her lesson earlier;  
"You're just like your mommy" Clint smiled at his daughter as he kissed Natasha on the cheek, wrapping his free arm around her and placing his hand on her stomach. At that exact moment one of the babies kicked forcefully at his hand. He beamed at her, it was only recently he'd been able to feel them kicking, Natasha had been feeling them for weeks.

Just then there was a loud bang behind them, followed by shooting and screaming. Evie covered her ears with her hands and Clint had moved instinctively into a protective stance in front of Natasha while cradling his daughter. Neither of them had to look to see the noise had been gun fire.

The security guard lay dead on the floor, while five armed men scanned the room. One disappeared to drag the manager from her office, another busied himself with ripping down the security cameras.

Clint looked briefly around the other people in the bank; there were 11 hostages, including themselves; a young boy, about 7 and his grandmother, a teenage couple, an older man in a business suit, a woman wearing gym clothing, a bank clerk and the manager.

"Clint, we can't let them know who we are" Natasha whispered as she leaned into his side, feigning fear.

He nodded, turning to whisper to his daughter; "Eve, remember what we said about code names?" she nodded shyly, whispering in return that she was to pretend her name was Irina (her middle name). Clint smiled at her in acknowledgment before turning to whisper to Nat that the fake ID in his wallet named him as 'Thomas Bristow'. She had a matching one in her bag adorned with the name 'Sophie Bristow'.

The five men all wore masks, and waved their guns round in a way that told Clint they didn't really know what they were doing, all but one man who quietly observed from the back, holding his gun tightly and stood in a military stance; he was the one they needed to watch. The men planned on waiting for the scheduled delivery truck to arrive with a fresh lot of money, guessing they'd get more that way than simply taking what was already in the safe.

They rounded the hostages in the waiting area and forced them all to sit on the floor. Two men kept watch over them while the other three monitored the front.

"I need a distraction, I can take them down" Clint said, tensing his fists in anger. He looked expectantly at Natasha.

"I don't think so; I'm not being the distraction, not this time"

"Come on, it'd be easy for you; pretend you're going into labour. You look further along than you are, no one will question it"

"Thats not my concern, if I'm playing distraction and you're off playing the hero then there's no one to look out for Eve" she elbowed him subtly too for his comment, she was carrying twins; of course she was going to look bigger!

Clint looked down to his daughter curled up in his lap, Natasha was right, he needed a new plan.

* * *

The delivery truck was late and that made the men anxious. They paced up and down, occasionally pausing to speak to their hostages. They'd taken a particular dislike to the man in the business suit and hit him forcefully in the face with the butt of the gun. They mocked the woman in the sweat pants and spoke openly to the young boy. Natasha had caught the eye of the leader, who liked to caress her cheek or brush the hair from her face every time he passed, He stared at her incessantly, which made talking to Clint increasingly difficult.

Clint's blood began to boil as he made his way over once more, knelling down next to her and asking her name;

"It's none of your business!" Clint growled, losing control of his temper slightly.

The man scowled at him, but looking at what they'd done to the other man, it could have been worse.  
This time he turned his attention to Evie;

"And what about you princess, what's your name?"  
She looked uneasily to her mother who nodded slightly

"I-Irina"

"Well that's a pretty name, just like you, and your mommy..." he turned back to leer at Natasha just as the bank phone began to ring.

He darted to his feet and quickly answered it, ignoring the protests of the man stood in the back; it was the police. Natasha could hear negotiations weren't going well, and the masked man was using her and Evie as his main leverage, when he slammed the phone down angrily he turned to the hostages and gave them the once over.  
Scribbling a note of some sort onto a piece of paper he thrust it at the old woman and told her to leave, reluctant to leave her grandson she tried to persuade them men to let him go instead, but at their insistence she walked from the building, towards a crowd of armed officers. Before she'd left, Natasha had managed to slide her ID card to the elderly lady, who seemed to understand it had some importance.

* * *

Steve got the call from Hill while he was at the gym. He met Tony at the tower, suited up and arrived outside the bank within 15 minutes of receiving the call.

"What are you guys doing here?" one of the officers asked with disdain

"We have a vested interest in the outcome"  
He looked at them with raised eyebrows before shrugging his disinterest.

"Sergeant, what's the situation?"

"Five armed robbers, 10 hostages. They did have 11 but they sent one out with a list of demands and an ID card, guessing the ID is why you're here?"

"Yeah, we need that information kept from the press"

"No problem Captain. How do you want to play this?"

"I don't know about you guys but I just want to go and kick some ass!" Tony said angrily as the police sergeant passed Natasha fake ID over to him.

"We can't Tony, tell me about the hostages?"

"Two bank workers, a elderly gentleman; he's injured, hit in the face with a gun, two teenagers, a pregnant woman, her husband and their young daughter, another woman, slightly older and a young boy, the lad is the freed hostage's grandson. The pregnant woman; Sophie Bristow, is the one who had her ID snuck out, so I'm guessing she's why you're here?"

Steve ignored the direct question and replied with another of his own;

"What demands did they make?"

"They asked for $5 million and an escape vehicle that's all. They don't seem too experienced; they didn't ask for non sequential notes, no tracker devices, nothing, they even let the old lady go without us asking..."

Suddenly there was a sound of three shots. Steve stared at the building in a slight panic.

"Have we got eyes in there?"

"No, they disabled the security footage"

Tony watched as two uniformed officers edged closer to the front of the building, trying to get a read on the situation inside. Several shots were fired at them and they quickly retreated behind the barrier of police vehicles.  
Sergeant Davis dialed the bank once more and was surprised when someone actually answered, however it was a different man than before;

"What's going on in there?"

"Where's our money?"

"We're working on it; but $5 million is going to take a while to get together. Tell me; why were shots fired?"

"Me and the boss had a slight disagreement. Now I'm the boss. We want $10 million and we want it within the hour or we start shooting hostages"

"We're trying but that's a lot of cash, send out the children and the women? Show some compassion and it might help speed things up"  
Without a reply he hung up the phone.

"Damn, the leader is dead, they've increased their demands; they're starting to get desperate. We need the hostages out now"

"Sir" shouted one of the officers, gesturing towards the bank.  
He looked up to see a dark haired boy and a young blond girl exiting the building. The boy ran straight up to his grandmother while the girl sprinted towards Captain America and Iron Man

"Uncle Steve! Uncle Tony!" she cried, tears spilling down her face as Steve lifted her up and held her tightly.

"Evie, are you okay?"  
She nodded sadly looking back towards the bank where her parents remained.

* * *

There were just three armed men left now, two had been shot in the disagreement. This gave Clint even better odds.

"Will you act as a distraction now?" Clint whispered to Natasha

"Fine, just give me a minute" she said, shifting uncomfortably on the cold, hard floor. Rubbing her stomach in a soothing motion as the babies kicked and wriggled, she pulled her face at the discomfort and started thinking how best to play this.  
Saving her the trouble, the elder man in the business suit clutched at his chest, groaning in pain. Clearly he was suffering a heart attack, the woman crawled over to him and helped lower his head slowly to the ground.

"What're you doing old man? Sit back up!" one of the armed men yelled, strolling over and kicking at the old man.

In that moment Clint reached up, grabbing the gun from his hand, he turned quickly and used the man's own weight against him, throwing him to the ground. He stamped on the mans shoulder and wrenched his wrist higher, snapping the bones in his arms and causing him to scream out in pain.

Seemingly simultaneously Steve and Tony breached the entrance, one man was instantly taken down by Tony's repulsor beam while the other flew back with the force of Steve's shield. The rounded the corner to the grateful looks on the other hostages faces.

"We totally had this" Clint told them, helping Natasha to her feet.


	13. Hide & Seek

_In this chapter; Evie is two, and Natasha is seven months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha had another appointment with the SHILED doctors to check the twins were progressing as they should; at seven months pregnant Clint had not made a single one of the antenatal appoints, no matter how hard he'd tried. He'd been on missions and in the infirmary, called away last minute, or required in another country; there was no way he was missing this one; even if it meant leaving their two year old daughter in the care of Tony and Steve.

Steve had offered to watch Evie when Pepper (their original babysitter) had been called into work, Tony had offered to help, and then Steve had promised to make sure he watched both Evie and Tony.

Natasha was fidgety the whole way through the appointment; she was distracted and rushed. Clint understood her worries; last week Tony had given Evie so much candy she'd been sick. And Steve wasn't much better, last time he'd babysat, Evie had told him her bedtime was ten o'clock; and he'd believed her.

The two were novices when it came to children!

When Clint and Natasha returned home to the tower they found it in a state of disarray. Tables were upturned, cupboards were emptied, couch pillows were thrown everywhere and Tony's lab was in shambles.

"What on earth happened?!" Clint asked; announcing their arrival to Steve and Tony who'd both been oblivious. They were both far too busy searching for something.

"Tony Stark; where is my daughter?" Natasha asked sternly, starting to pace towards him, Clint held her back while Tony dived behind Steve.

"She's here somewhere... She's got to be" he answered, somewhat unwisely

"You lost my child?! You LOST my child?!"

"We didn't lose her... per say"

"Well then where is she?"

"We were playing hide and seek..." Steve began, but broke off at a shake of the head from Clint.

"Relax Widow, we'll find her. Besides, even if we don't; you're having twins right, you've got a spare!" Tony joked, but stopped as he narrowly ducked under the lamp Natasha threw at his head.

"Tasha, come on. You know you're over emotional right now. Go lie down and we'll find Evie, okay?"

"Clint, no I can't-"

"Natasha, you haven't slept properly in days! Go lie down and I promise you we'll have Evie back when you wake up"

Natasha glared at Clint before storming off to their bedroom.

"Everything go okay at the check up?" Steve queried, watching Natasha leave down the hallway.

"Yeah everything's great" Clint smiled, Tony just raised his eyebrows; "Really?!"

* * *

"Evelyn Irina Barton! Daddy needs you to stop hiding now! Please?!

They'd searched everywhere, and he really needed to find her before Natasha returned.

He peered round the corner of their bedroom to check she was still napping. As he opened the door he saw his daughter sat next to Natasha on the bed, when she saw him approach she shushed him, placing a finger over her mouth as she did.

"Did I hide well daddy?" she whispered, careful not to wake her mother.

"You sure did Лингпаука" he smiled. _(spiderling)_


	14. Miniature

**In this chapter; Evie is three and Natasha is eight months pregnant**

* * *

Tony and Clint were at on the sofa making arrangements for Pepper's surprise birthday party, even though they were both fairly certain she'd figured them out months ago.

Evie ran towards them shouting "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

"What is it little spider?" he asked, pulling her into his lap

She thrust a piece of paper at him before scrambling back down and half skipping, half running back over to her mother muttering the few Russian words she knew; "Я закончил сейчас мама! Являются ли торты готовы мама?"

Clint looked down to the picture his daughter had given her, it was a child's rendering of himself, Evie and Natasha outside the tower, with the words 'Моя семья' (My Family) scrawled messily across the top. It made him smile brightly

"She's going to be trouble that one" Tony told him, watching as Evie spoke animatedly to her mother, placing her hands gently on Natasha's stomach to feel the babies kicking, giggling as she felt it

"What makes you say that?" Clint asked, unable to tear his eyes away from his small family

"Well sure, she's incredibly adorable now, too adorable in fact, with her big grin and cute giggles, blond ringlets and green eyes, but she's just so much like Nat"

"You really think?"

"Clint, she's the only three year old I've ever met who rolls her eyes"

Clint thought about it for a moment, watching his wife and daughter. If Evie wasn't blonde then she's be the spitting image of Natasha, they even had the same birthmark on their thigh (not that anyone else knew about that). Evie loved to dance, particularly ballet, and liked to sing as well, she had little interest in TV but would read (or be read to) all day long if she could; just like her mother. Natasha was possibly the worst cook Clint had ever met, she couldn't even make microwavable popcorn and could just about manage a bowl of oatmeal, however she could bake, she was an excellent baker, and judging by the cupcakes cooling on the side, Evie was following in her footsteps there too. They both slept lay on their stomaches without any pillows, and couldn't sleep unless it was pitch black. Their favourite food was blueberries, winter was their favourite time of year and they both loved the snow. Natasha had always loved Christmas, and if it were even possible; Evie was even more excitable about the holiday. Another way she was just like her Mom was her language skills, Evie could already say 'hello', 'please', 'thank you' and 'I love you' in five languages.

He suddenly realised he'd been staring when a balled up piece of paper hit him in the head; he refocused his eyes to see both Natasha and Evelyn giving him the same questioning look. He wasn't even sure who'd thrown the paper.

It occurred to Clint that Evie was probably exactly like Natasha would have been when she was young if she'd had had a normal childhood.

Yep, Evie was definitely going to be trouble when she was older


	15. Early Arrival

_In this chapter; Evie is three and Natasha is eight months pregnant_

* * *

Tony was deep in concentration working in his lab on his latest piece of tech, which he hoped would make the Avengers lives a little easier in battle; when he heard a hurried knocking on the glass wall at the front of the lab.  
He looked up to see Evie with her little hands squashed up against the glass. She was knocking urgently shouting something Tony couldn't hear.  
Setting aside his work he got up to open the door

"Evelyn, you know you're not supposed to come down here on your own"

"I know Uncle Tony but I need your help"

"Is this another game of hide and seek? Is somebody looking for you?"

"No Uncle Tony! Come with me! Quick!"

"Eve I'm really busy, can't you get someone else-"

"I can't find anyone else Uncle Tony. I really need your help!" she was close to tears and trying with all her might to pull Tony out of his lab

"What is it Evie?" he asked, suddenly sensing the urgency

"Mommy is hurt" she admitted, the tears streaming down her face now

Tony scooped her up onto his back and hastily made his way up to Clint and Natasha's floor.

Thor was currently in Asgard with Jane, Pepper was away on business, Steve had gone to SHIELD to collect Clint; who was being released from medical after a mission had left him a coma for a little under a week; he wasn't supposed to be released until next week but he'd refused to stay any longer, and Bruce was away in Malibu; lucky for him! New York was currently experiencing the worst snow they'd had in years; it'd been falling for days, the roads were closed and over the past few hours it had really started coming down. The news was reporting nearly four foot of snow in some areas.

"Evie, I'm going to go find your Mom, I think Darcy is on the guest level, will you go see if you can find her?"

Evelyn nodded and hit the correct button to take her down to where she would hopefully find her godmother

Tony found Natasha slumped on the floor, leaning her back against the wall, she was clutching her stomach and breathing heavily through what Tony _really_ hoped was not a contraction.

"Tasha?"

"Tony!"

"Oh please tell me you're not in labour"

"I really wish I could, but I'd be lying"

"Stay there, I'm going to ring Clint"

Two minutes later he returned with bad news for Natasha;

"Nat, the roads are closed. We're snowed in and Steve and Clint are stuck at SHIELD"

"You're kidding, tell me you're kidding. Please?" her voice was filled with desperation, and it hurt Tony just a little

"I'm sorry Nat"

"Dammit!" she cried out, half in anger, half in pain

Darcy appeared a minute later carrying Evie;

"Oh my God Nat!" Darcy exclaimed when she realised what was happening, her outburst caused the worry in Evie to rise and she started crying again

Darcy scurried away to find a film for Evie to watch in her bedroom, tucking her in and hoping she'd nod off before returning to the lounge

She positioned herself behind Natasha and allowed her to lean on her, supporting her back and gripping her hands. She turned to ask Tony;

"When's the ambulance coming?"

"It can't get here, we're completely cut off"

"See, this is what you get when you come five weeks early!" Darcy aimed at Natasha's stomach, but she apparently wasn't in the mood for jokes

"You're gonna have to talk us through this Nat"

"I've only don't this once before, and I wasn't in the best position to be making notes!"

"It's still once more than me and Darce put together"

That thought was kind of terrifying for all three

* * *

Clint was determined to get back to the tower; whatever it took. His wife was in labour, his babies were coming early, and there was no way he wasn't going to be there for them. Not to mention he knew that Tony was probably the only other person in the tower with Natasha other than their three year old, and he honestly wasn't sure which of the two he'd prefer to deliver his babies.

"Clint you need to sit down"

"Screw that Cap, I gotta get home"

"Clint there's really no-"

"Steve, Tasha is in labour. I can't not be there for her!"

* * *

Natasha's contractions were becoming more painful, increasing in length and coming much more frequently.

Tony scurried around the tower, getting blankets and towels, he raided the small medical station they had set up for minor injuries, and ran back to the two women with a handful of equipment, he handed Natasha a bottle of vodka

"Are you serious?" she asked him

"We don't have anything else for pain relief, we never expected you to give birth at home!"

Darcy took the vodka from Natasha and took a large gulp

* * *

Clint had finally given in and taken a seat, well, he'd fallen down when he'd become too dizzy to pace any longer and chosen to stay there, at least until his head stopped spinning

Steve was trying everything to get them back, the quinjets were grounded, cars were useless, and there was no way in Clint's current state he wanted to risk walking it.

Clint's mood was rapidly worsening, so when two medical officers came down to try and re admit him ('because he wasn't going anywhere anyway...'), he knocked one of them out and left the other one running away.

"You are going to get a bad reputation... Again" Steve told him, dialing Tony's number for the fifth time, hoping he'd answer this time

* * *

"Hey Cap" Tony answered the phone "How's it going?"

"We still can't get out of SHIELD, how's Nat"

Tony looked over to where she lay on the floor, Darcy still supporting her;  
"It's not gonna be long"

His words raised a slight panic in everyone

"Tony, do you know what you're doing?"

"Not a clue!"

Half an hour later Bruce rang;

"Tony, I heard you might need my help?"

"Oh Bruce! Thank God! Why didn't I think of you before?!"

"Because you're stupid when you panic! What's going on?"

"Tasha's in labour!"

"Yeah, I got that much..."

"Her contractions are every two minutes and last at least 60 seconds"

"Okay, she's probably ready to start pushing; you need to keep the baby warm and dry when it's born, watch out for any extreme blood loss, and Tony... Don't be an idiot"

"Right, okay, thanks Bruce"

"I'll keep my phone on me, ring if you need anything! Give Tasha my love"

"Will do. Bye Bruce"

"Right, Tasha, Bruce thinks it might be time to start pushing"

"But Clint-"

"Clint and Steve are still stuck at SHIELD; the snow- they're- Tasha I don't think they're going to make it back anytime soon"

Tony watched as Natasha's face fell, the reality of the situation setting in.

Tony felt a little hand on his shoulder as he searched through the kitchen cupboards

"Evie sweet, I need you to back in your bedroom for me, can you put another film on for me?"

She nodded silently; "Is Mommy having the babies?"

"Yeah, I'll call you in as soon as it's over okay?"

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise"

Evie turned to leave to go back to her room, before stopping and turning back to Tony; "Will you give her this, for good luck" she asked, holding out Rozovyy, her favourite pink bunny that had been a gift from him and Pepper when she was born

"Sure I will" he smiled at her, returning the hug when she wrapped her arms around him.

"Tony!" they both heard Darcy yell from the other room

An hour later Tony held a tiny, squirming baby boy in his arms, he looked over the little pink baby in amazement.  
The thought that this baby was absolutely new flashed through his mind, that Tony was the first person to ever hold him, he felt honored and privileged and he shed a tear

"Is the famous Tony Stark crying?" Darcy asked in astonishment

"No!" he denied, but the smile Natasha gave him told him he'd been caught

"Mommy?" Evie was stood by the doorway

"Hi Evie, look, you have a brother" Tony told her, taking the baby over to show her, she wrinkled her nose up, unsure of how to feel about that, but when the baby gripped her finger and stopped crying; her face lit up with a smile

"Is it over now?" Evie asked

"Yeah, it's over" Tony answered

"Erm Tony, aren't you forgetting something?" Darcy asked, leaving him slightly confused for a moment, until another contraction came and left Natasha gasping for breath, then he remembered; she was having twins

Tony looked down at the baby in his arms, to Natasha who was already suffering through another painful contraction and to Darcy who was holding her, supporting her, and then to Evie who looked up to him with large worried eyes

"We need more hands!"

* * *

"I hate the frickin snow!" Clint exclaimed as he stumbled forward, Steve had finally given in and agreed they would walk to the tower

"Don't let Nat hear you say that, that'd be grounds for a divorce" Steve smiled at him, helping him regain his balance

They weren't far now, even it if had taken them almost two hours to do a journey they could have walked in 10 minutes. Clint looked up to see the tower and felt relief.

He all but sprinted into the elevator, despite Steve's concerns for him. The two of them burst onto the floor; Clint ran to his wife's side and kissed her, his own tears mixing with hers as he held her. Tony handed him a baby; his son. Evie ran over to Steve and informed him excitedly that she had a baby brother.

Shortly after Steve and Clint made it back to the tower Tony held another baby boy in his arms, wrapping him in a blanket he handed him over to Natasha.

"It's over now little spider" he told Evie, who was in the corner with Steve. She wriggled down out of his arms and ran over to her parents. Leaning over Clint's shoulder to peer at the babies, everyone laughed when she exclaimed; "_two_ boys?!"

* * *

"Boys Clint, I told you they were boys"

"Next time I'm going to get it right"

"Next time?!"

Natasha and Clint were sat on the sofa, a baby sleeping in each of their arms and Evie curled up between them. Steve was sat on the chair beside them, staring at the babies in wonder. While Darcy perched on the arm of the sofa, the baby in Natasha's arms gripped Darcy's finger tightly.

Tony was pacing back and forth by the fireplace on the phone to Pepper;  
"Hey Pepper, guess what I just did! I delivered Nat's babies! Well, I helped" he added as Natasha glared at him

"Yeah, twin boys. They're fine, both completely healthy"

"That's great news! Pass on my congratulations to Clint and Tasha, I want to hear about it when I get back. But Tony, I need to talk to you"

"What is it?"

"I'd rather speak with you when I'm home; face-to-face"

"You can't do that to me Pep, come on, just tell me?"

"You sure?"

"You're making me nervous Pepper"

"Tony, I'm pregnant"

Tony froze for a second, just a second, but it was enough to draw the attention of the four other adults in the room.

Tony covered the speaker on his phone and turned to the others;  
"I'm going to be a dad!" he whispered at them, watching as shock and surprise overtook all their features

He turned back to his conversation with his wife while the others tried to process the news he'd given them

"That's fantastic news Pepper!"

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do, I love you and I can't wait to meet our baby!"

"I'm so glad Tony! But don't tell the others yet okay, I want to be there to tell them, I want to see their faces!"

"Right, okay, no problem"

He said his goodbyes and turned back to his teammates

"Hey listen, Pepper wants to be the one to tell you about the baby, so can we all act surprised when she does tell you?"

"You and Aunt Pepper are having a baby too?!" Evie asked excitedly, only just figuring out the implication of Tony's earlier statement

"I'm sure we can all keep your secret Tony, but she might be a whole other issue" Clint said, glancing down at his daughter

"Evie, you're going to be the death of me!" Tony smiled at her, thinking of a way to get out of this latest predicament

His phone started ringing once more;

"Oh hi Bruce!"

"Tony what happened?! You never rang-"his voice was full of worry

"I'm so sorry Bruce, I completely forgot! We have two lovely nephews here"

"We do? Any everything is okay?"

"Everything's fine, they were in safe hands!"

Bruce laughed down the phone "Do they have names yet?"

"Don't think so, Barton was sure they were having girls!"

Tony wrapped up the conversation before turning to the couple;

"In all seriousness, if you guys need help naming them I have an idea"

"We're not naming them after you Stark" Clint said

"Not even their middle name?"

Clint and Natasha both ignored the question

"Okay, so this is Henry" Clint introduced the baby in his arms, "and this is Elijah" he added, tilting his head to gesture at the baby in Natasha's arms who was still clinging tightly to Darcy's finger.

"Tony would pick one of the middle names?" Natasha asked him

"Anthony"

"But not Anthony" Clint told him quickly

"Number five Barton!" Tony responded, leaving Natasha, Darcy and Steve all slightly confused, but Clint rolled his eyes

"Okay; Michael"

The two assassins nodded, before Clint asked Steve to choose the middle name for the other twin

"James" he said smiling brightly.

"I want to name one!" Evie insisted

"But Лингпаука, we've run out of babies" Natasha said, stroking her daughters wild hair from her face

"Don't worry Eve, you can help me and Pepper name our baby, but only if you pretend you don't know until she tells you, deal?"

"Deal!" she shouted happily, holding up her pinky finger to her Uncle. Waiting for him seal the deal with a pink swear.


	16. Be Specific

**In this chapter; Evie is three and Elijah & Henry are one week old**

* * *

When Pepper returned from her business meeting the following week she was desperate to meet her nephews.  
They were absolutely adorable, with their fair blond hair and big blue eyes, as well as being completely identical in every way and Pepper, like everyone else, had great difficulty telling them apart. Only Natasha seemed to have managed that skill so far. And as much as Evie always insisted she wanted a sister, everyone could see she was smitten.  
After having just discovered she was pregnant, Pepper found herself incredibly broody, and wanted to be with the twins all the time. Natasha watched her with a knowing smile; Tony had been so excited he'd accidentally told Clint, Steve, Darcy, Evie and herself the big news.

Shortly after her return Pepper organised a team meal in the tower, she made sure Thor was home, she invited Jane and Darcy, and even asked Phil along.  
She went all out, serving fancy food and making sure everyone dressed nicely; she made Tony change twice.

Clint leaved over Evie while the appetizers were being served to whisper to Natasha "Wow, she's really going all out! She's certainly putting us to shame" Natasha smiled and nodded, trying not to laugh.

Before dessert Tony and Pepper stood up;  
"We have an announcement to make" Tony told them, trying desperately to avoid making eye contact with Clint

"First of all, a huge congratulations to Clint and Natasha" Pepper added, while everyone raised their glasses in their direction, "And secondly, me and Tony are thrilled to be able to tell you that we're also going to having a baby!" she grinned, she looked happier than any of them had ever seen her before

There were a few gasps from the people who didn't already know, while everyone said their congratulations, Natasha went to hug her friend and the others raised their glasses in celebration once again. Tony winked at Evie across the table, who smiled brightly at her uncle; she'd kept her end of the deal and acted surprised when Pepper told her the news.

Everyone stayed after the meal was over, chatting and drinking. The twins were passed round, but mostly monopolised by Phil and Jane, who were the only ones who hadn't seen them yet.  
Evie was sat sleepily on Pepper's knee, trying to stifle a yawn while she listened to her Mom and Pepper talk.

"I think it's bed time little spider" Clint said, noticing his daughters eye lids struggle to stay open

"One more minute please Dada, I need to ask Aunt Pepper something"

"Alright, one more minute"

Tony's interest in the conversation was suddenly piqued and he stopped listening to whatever it was Bruce was talking to him about.

"Do I still get to help name the baby?"

"Alright, bed time" Natasha said hastily, hoping Pepper had missed the wording of the question, unfortunately she hadn't

"What do you mean Eve?"

"Uncle Tony said I could help you name the baby"

"Oh, when did he say that?"

"Last week"

Tony strolled over; "I'm sorry Pepper, I was just so excited when I found out, I might have accidentally told a few people"

"Oh yeah, who knew?"

"Just Evie... and Clint and Natasha... oh Steve and Darcy"

"You all knew?! For a whole week? And you didn't mention it?" Pepper exclaimed, her eyes darting round those who were guilty  
Great, now they were all in trouble

"We're sorry Pep, we knew how important it was to you to tell us yourself" Natasha said softly

Pepper started crying, but she was smiling too; "you guys are so sweet!" she said

"Hormones?" Tony asked Clint quietly

"Hormones, you better get used to that" he confirmed, earning himself a glare from Natasha

"Do I still get to help name the baby Uncle Tony?"

"Eve, I told you to 'act surprised'"

"But I did act surprised Uncle Tony! You didn't say I had to keep pretending!" Evie reasoned

"The secret to teaching kids to lie; be specific" Clint leaned over to whisper to Tony, as Pepper and Natasha laughed at Evie's last statement.


	17. Learning to Share

**(In this fic; Evie is three and Elijah & Henry are three weeks old)**

* * *

"Daddy... Daddy... Daddy... Wake up!"

Clint opened his eyes to see Evie bouncing on his bed, and judging by what she was wearing she'd dressed herself. She had brightly colored, stripy tights on, one pink shoe and one black boot, her ballet skirt and a woolly Christmas jumper. She'd put her long curly hair up in lob-sided pigtails and had missed a section at the back. To top it off she'd found Natasha's SHIELD jacket and pulled it on over her jumper. Clint couldn't help but smile at the sight of her and snap a picture on his phone

"Come on Daddy, it's time for ballet!"

"Calm down Лингпаука, we'll get you dressed and then we'll go"

"But I am dressed Daddy!"

"Sweetheart, I don't think you're allowed to wear stripy tights to ballet"

"Oh okay" she sighed, leading her father down the hallway and into her bedroom to get dressed properly.

Once dressed, Clint left Evie to play in her room for ten minutes while he went to check on Natasha and the twins; all three were fast asleep in the living room. It occurred to Clint it was the first time he'd seen both twins were asleep at the same time. He knew how tired Natasha was and the fact she was finally getting some rest made Clint somewhat relieved.

Clint promised Evie they'd get breakfast from the cafe on the way seeing as how they were ready so early and he didn't want to disturb Natasha, Elijah and Henry.

"I'll go wake Mommy!" Evie informed Clint excitedly

"Wait Лингпаука, I think Mommy is too tired"

"But she promised!" Evie said, pulling her best sad face and pouting her lips. She gave Clint the exact look Natasha gave him when she wanted something from him

"I know Eve, but Mommy was up all night with the boys"

"So! It's my turn to play with Mommy!" she said defiantly

Clint knew Evie had been struggling to accept that she had to share her time with her parents with two new babies.  
Especially seeing as they were baby boys; she'd been insistent she wanted sisters, she'd even named them (Jodie and Annabelle) and it had taken a lot of persuasion to convince her she was happy to have two brothers, she'd even gotten Clint to promise her she'd have a sister one day (Natasha didn't know about that promise).

"How about we go to ballet, and then when we get back you and your Mom can spend some time together and I'll take the boys out"

"No! I don't want to go to ballet if Mommy isn't coming!"

"Oh come on Evelyn, you can show your Mom what you learnt after the lesson"

"No!" she stormed off back to her bedroom and slammed the door

"Evelyn Irina Barton don't slam your door!" Clint called after her, but it was too late. The bang woke Henry up, who in turn woke Elijah and Natasha

When Natasha looked at the time she was less than pleased to discover she'd been asleep the whole of 30 minutes. Last night had not been pleasant; every time she settled Elijah, Henry woke, and by the time he'd gone back off to sleep, Elijah was awake again. Clint had only just returned from a 48 hour training program for the new recruits and she'd agreed to get up with the boys so he could get some rest, she hadn't realised they'd be this restless when she'd made the deal

"Sorry Nat" Clint said, scooping up one of the boys "Evie was a little upset"

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot. She's still having difficulty adjusting"

Natasha sighed, they'd tried everything they could think of to help her adapt, she loved her brothers and enjoyed helping take care of them, but she didn't like not having her parents full attention all of the time

Pepper entered the floor at that moment, pausing to take in the scene before her; Natasha looked exhausted, both boys were crying, and Evie was nowhere to be seen

"Everything alright?"

"We're still having a few issues" Clint told her, heating up two bottles

Pepper took the boys from the two assassins and told them to take their daughter out for the day. It was a short term solution but hopefully they could get through to her.

The three of them went to the cafe for breakfast and then to the ballet class, they went shopping and got ice cream before going back to the tower. Clint and Natasha sat Evie down on the sofa and took their time explaining to her what it meant to be a sister. They told her how important her job was, and how much the boys needed her. They explained that they'd have to share their time, but promised they'd always make time to spend with her. And lastly, they gave her a present. It was a photo frame, inside was a photo of the five of them taken the day Natasha and the twins came home from the hospital, Clint and Natasha told Evie it was a present off Elijah and Henry to say thank you for being their big sister.

She hugged the frame tightly and burst into tears, Clint looked helplessly to Natasha; completely at a loss as to what to do.

Natasha pulled her daughter onto her lap and quietly whispered "What's up ребенок?"

"I'm sorry for being selfish мама"

Natasha felt herself getting tearful; it hadn't been their intent to make her feel guilty, they'd meant to make her feel important and settled in her new role within the family

Clint knelt down so he was at eye level with his daughter sat on Natasha's knee; "дорогая we know" Evie wrapped an arm round each of her parents and hugged them tightly before climbing down from Natasha's knee and running to her room.

"Well that didn't go to plan" Clint sighed, climbing onto the sofa next to Natasha  
She agreed, tiredly shaking her head.

Pepper dropped the boys off shortly after, and Evie came running out of her room

"Are they awake? Are they awake?" she asked excitedly

"Yeah, why?" Clint asked, not hiding the confusion from his voice

"Good. I made them presents too!" she announced proudly, producing two pictures she'd made. They depicted stick images of their family; Evie, Elijah and Henry at the center, surrounded by their mom and dad, Tony, Thor, Bruce, Steve, Pepper, Jane, Darcy, Phil and Maria.  
Evie insisted on putting the pictures up above the boys cribs in their room.

The next morning Clint and Natasha found Evie asleep on the floor between the two cribs; now they had a new problem. The three of them were inseparable.


	18. Out of Your Depth

_In this chapter; Evie is three, Elijah and Henry are two months old, and Pepper is five months pregnant_

* * *

"Romanoff; we really need you on this one"

"Fury I'm still on maternity leave"

Natasha held the phone pressed between her shoulder and ear. One baby in her arms, the other asleep in his crib. Evie was watching Scooby Doo, sat curled up on the couch with Clint (who was flat out, snoring slightly)  
Natasha sighed as the baby in the crib woke and started crying. Clint didn't even stir.

"Romanoff; this is a Code 3 mission and we've got no one else"

* * *

"Clint, Fury rang earlier"

"Oh yeah?"

"He needs me on a Code 3"

"But you're on maternity leave"

"I know but he's desperate..."

"Do you want to go?"

"No. But I think I need to"

"How long?"

"A week tops"

"Well, then you should go; save the world" he smiled proudly at his wife, kissing her on the cheek. It'd be tough; it would be the first time Natasha had been away since the twins were born, but he was more than confident he could cope for a few days without her.

* * *

The five of them walked through the helicarrier; one twin content in each of Natasha's arms while Evie clung to her father's back. Evie hugged her mother tightly as she said goodbye, making her promise that she'd stay safe and be back soon. It was not the first time one of Evie's parents had been away; she missed them terribly when they were gone; but understood, as well as a child could, that her parents had important jobs. Natasha kissed each of the twins, passing them to Coulson for a moment in order to say goodbye to her husband. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She smiled before reaching up on her tip toes to kiss him goodbye. Before leaving she kissed her daughter once more and boarded the quinjet with Coulson for their flight to Pakistan.

* * *

When Clint pulled back into the parking garage at the tower he was faced with a problem. Evie had fallen asleep in the car clutching the pink rabbit she carried around everywhere, how was Clint going to carry three children into the tower at once?  
He ended up calling Steve down to take Evie while Clint unclipped the car seats and carried one in each hand clumsily to the elevator.

"What would you have done if I'd have been out?"

"Called Tony"

"What if no one was in?"

"I dunno, waited for Evie to wake?"

"Man, you're out of your depth. When's Nat back?"

"A week"

"Good luck Clint" Steve said, carefully placing Evie on the couch before leaving to return to his workout.

While all three kids were sleeping Clint did some cleaning, answered his SHIELD emails and returned a phone call to Hill. He made dinner ready for when Evie woke and was felling pretty happy with himself.

Two hours later; when Evie had spilled her spaghetti all down her front and all over the floor and was in floods of tears, along with both boys who were wailing, wanting to be fed; Clint was really missing Natasha.

Luckily for Clint, Bruce chose that moment to come check on the four of them.

"You okay?"

"There's so many of them and they're all crying" Clint said frantically, trying to wipe baby sick from his top and spaghetti from his shoe, while reasoning with Evie to stop crying and feed Henry simultaneously. Bruce took pity on his friend, grabbing some clean clothes for Evie and helping her get her dress off without getting spaghetti sauce in her hair. He settled her on her chair with a sandwich before scoping Elijah up and giving him his bottle. Clint finished with Henry and put him down, cleaning the floor and the table before going to change his clothes.

He rejoined Bruce in the lounge to find him watching the Flintstones with Evie;  
"You should have never let Nat go" Bruce joked, as Henry started balling again, disturbing Elijah who joined him.

That night Clint was exhausted. He'd given up trying to put Evie in her own bed; every time he did she crept out and curled up on Natasha's side of their bed. He was so tired it took Evie poking him sharply in the cheek to waking him up after he'd slept through the twins crying.

He gave Evie pop tarts (stolen from Thor's floor) for breakfast; something she couldn't spill, and got the boys fed and dressed. The four of them went up to the communal floor where they found Pepper and Steve.

Pepper was now five months pregnant and adored looking after the twins; she knew she was having a little boy and couldn't wait to become a mother.

Evie ran straight over to her godfather, clutching her pink rabbit and a book shouting "Uncle Steve Uncle Steve! Read me a story pleaseee?"

Clint watched as Steve swept up his daughter and span round in circles with her. She giggled and held him tightly before they sat in the arm chair and Steve read her The Cat in the Hat.

"Clint can I hold one of the babies?" Pepper asked, she'd also been watching Steve playing with Evie

"Sure you can"

"Which is which again?"

Clint looked down to his sons, both sat in matching carry seats on the floor, pondering a moment before he realised he wasn't sure. He'd always thought he could tell them apart; but that was because Natasha always dressed them differently. Clint had made the mistake of putting them both in the same outfit.

"Erm..."

"You don't know?"

"I thought I did..."

Pepper's gaze flickered from Clint's worried face, to the two small faces staring up at them both

"Damn it, Tasha's gonna kill me"

Pepper didn't answer, just nodded in agreement and picked one of the twins up.

Natasha rang later that afternoon to see how everything was going. Clint, of course, lied; and told her everything was going well. Evie accidentally let slip to her mom just how badly things were going;  
"Mommy, which baby is 'Lijah and which is Henry? Because daddy can't remember"

Natasha wasn't best impressed that Clint hadn't told her himself, but managed to describe to Clint the differences; Henry was slightly bigger and heavier, while Elijah was quieter and tended to sleep better. He stuck nametags on them from then on.

* * *

The next day Darcy visited to take her goddaughter to the zoo, she offered to take the twins too but Clint decided it was better to keep them at the tower (still trying desperately to tell them apart without weighing them)

"Hey Pepper, how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Hold them both"

"You've never held them both?"

"Well yeah, but I can't pick them both up, I need two hands to pick them up and then when I have one I can't get the other..."

Pepper laughed, and spent the next half an hour or so teaching Clint how to pick a baby up with one arm.

Evie ran in from the elevator; "Daddy! Daddy! Look what Aunt Darcy got for me! Can we ring mommy so I can tell her what I did today?"

Clink looked at the mass of teddys, new clothes and toys Darcy had bought from the zoo. She handed over a bad to him with Tshirt's for the twins (one said 'E is Elephant' while the other had 'H is for Hippo' written on it. Clint smiled to himself thinking of the mix up the day before. These would certainly come in handy!)

That evening Natasha rang to tell Clint the mission had been completed early and that she was on her way back home. As much as Clint loved spending time alone with his kids; he couldn't have been more thrilled to see Natasha when she walked through the door.


	19. Jacob Benjamin Stark

**(In this chapter; Evie is three and Elijah & Henry are seven months)**

* * *

Tony was pissed!  
The Avengers were in battle when Pepper had gone into labour and no one had bothered to inform him.  
The six tired Avengers made their way to HQ after the fighting was over and went to Fury's office for debriefing

"Fury, why is my daughter spinning around in your chair?" Clint asked on entering the office, while Nick Fury, director of SHIELD was trying desperately to get Henry to stop crying while wiping spit up off his leather coat.

Natasha took the screaming baby from her boss while Steve scooped up Elijah; both became silent almost instantly and Fury sighed at them

"I thought Pepper was watching the little ankle bitters this morning?" Tony queried

"She was"

"And she's not now because?"

"Can we get the debrief done first?" Fury asked tiredly, running round after Evelyn all morning had left him both mentally and physically exhausted, while Elijah and Henry had left him stressed and emotionally strained. You could definitely tell who their parents were.

At that moment Evie stopped spinning in the chair and tried to get up, she stumbled in dizziness; knocking Fury's neatly stacked and recently organised paperwork off his desk, and scattering them all over the floor. Clint grabbed her before she could cause anymore damage and smiled apologetically at his boss; either he or Natasha would have to reorganize all files again later he was sure, and he really hoped it wasn't going to be him.

Fury sighed once more; shaking his head he rubbed his temples. "She's in labour Stark"  
Tony turned and fled down to medical

"Barton, Romanoff; please remove your children from my office before anything else gets knocked over, broken or spit up on. Rogers, Banner and Thor; please go to Coulson's office for debrief"  
The remaining five left the office and made their way down to the shield medical bay, ignoring the debrief. There would be time for that later.

Tony ran through the corridors of shield until he burst through the infirmary doors, startling several of the nurses as he did. They directed him to her room and he set off running again, terrified he was going to miss the birth. However when he arrived nothing was really happening. She'd been having contractions every ten to fifteen minutes and would have stayed at the tower longer if she hadn't have been looking after three children alone.

"Hi honey" she smiled at him, in between bites of toast

"But I thought you were in labour? _This_ is not labour; I know what labour looks like!"

"How do _you_ know what labour looks like?"

"I was there when Tasha had the twins. So either she severely over exaggerated the pain, or you're faking labour to get out of babysitting, and I know which one of those is more likely!.. Last year I saw Tasha take three bullets and still get out of a collapsing building with a broken ankle, not to mention; I've met those kids!"

"Nice of you to finally join us Mr. Stark" Dr. Nightly commented as he entered the room. Tony rolled his eyes behind the doctors back, he'd never liked him, but Pepper did, and in the end that was the important part.  
He took some readings from the monitor and turned back to Pepper; "Your contractions are slowing down which is kind of the opposite of what we want to happen, so we're going to break your waters try and kick start them again, okay?"  
Pepper nodded, she'd been waiting impatiently to meet her son, it was three days past her due date and she was desperate to become a mom

"Mr Stark, you need to go get some juice and biscuits now for Pepper, she needs to keep her energy levels up"

The next few hours passed slowly but at least now things were progressing and it was finally time to push.  
Tony held Pepper's hand (until she nearly broke his fingers), and encouraged her. And he had more than a few disagreements with Dr Nightly as time went on.

At last the doctor informed them that he could see the head; they were almost there

"Oh my God Pepper! How are you doing that?! It likes like it hurts!"

Soon Tony found himself sat in the waiting room with Evie on his knee, his place in the delivery room had been taken by Natasha after Pepper had ordered him to leave.

"Uncle Tony do you have a baby yet?" Evie asked through a yawn

"Not yet kiddo, almost"

"Why aren't you with Aunt Pepper?"

"Pepper wanted your mommy with her for a little while"

"Why?"

"Uncle Tony made Pepper mad" Clint explained, gently rocking the sleeping twins in their carry seats

"Why?"

"Aunt Pepper is just angry" Tony explained, glaring at Clint

"Why?"

"She's overemotional"

"Why?"

"Eve, how about you go ask your dad how babies are made?" Tony whispered into her ear

"Okay" she said, hopping off Tony's knee

Tony strolled back up the hallway. He didn't blame Pepper for kicking him out, but he wished he's kept his mouth shut and not yelled at the doctor.

Natasha appeared by his side, "Tony, you can go back in now" she informed him, gently stroking his arm

"Do I have a son?" he asked, upset he'd missed it

"Not yet, I convinced Pepper to let you back in" she smiled

"Thanks Tasha!" he hugged her and went to leave, stopping himself before he opened the door to Pepper's room he turned; "Oh and Nat, I'm sorry about the conversation Clint's currently having with your daughter"  
She looked at him slightly confused, but he had more important places to be so she shook her head and walked back to the waiting room.

2 hours later and Tony walked down the hallway to introduce his son to his friends;

"Everyone this is Jacob Benjamin Stark" he announced proudly, passing him to Natasha to hold  
Clint picked Evie up so she could get a better look

"Oh yay! The stork _finally_ arrived with the baby!" she exclaimed as Jacob clutched her finger

Tony looked to Clint and raised his eyebrows; wordlessly questioning his explanation, Clint just shrugged and whispered "Well what was I supposed to say?! She's 3!"

"Uncle Tony why didn't you get a girl?"

"It's more of a get what you're given sort of deal"

"Daddy, I'm going to ask Santa for a baby sister" she informed him matter of factly

"But Лингпаука, you just got two new brothers" Clint reasoned with her after the look Natasha shot him

"But I want a _sister_! There are too many boys in the tower"

"Well, i'll leave you guys to _this_ and take Jacob back to his mother. See you guys later, and good luck!"

Everyone started to leave and Tony took Jacob back to Pepper, he nipped back out again just in time to catch them before the left; "Hey Tasha, thanks!" he smiled gratefully at her before returning to his family.


	20. Terrible Twos

_In this chapter; Evie is five and Elijah and Henry are two_

* * *

Evie was always a quiet and thoughtful child; easily occupied with a story or a coloring book and generally well behaved. She never went through the 'terrible twos', so when the twins reached theirs; Clint and Natasha found themselves wholly unprepared.

* * *

Fury was stood in front of the six superheroes, lecturing them on their impulsive actions, irresponsible attitude and their disrespect for orders; when Natasha's phone started to ring. Fury glared at her as the other five members of her team dared to glance in her direction;

"Bad move widow" Tony whispered, as Natasha apologised and excused herself from the meeting in order to take the phone call.

Fury carried on his rant, only to be interrupted once again several minutes later;

"Sorry Director Fury, I need to speak to Clint for a minute"

"See this is exactly what I'm talking about! You have 60 seconds Barton!"

"Right sir"

Clint dived out of the room, thankful for the break;

"I'm so glad you pulled me out of there" he said with a smile, kissing Natasha while wrapping his arms around her

"Clint, Clint I really need to speak to you"

"Oh, you didn't just set this all up to get us out of there?"

"No, although now I wish I had" she smiled as Clint continued kissing her

"What is it?"

"That was the preschool on the phone. They need to see us"

"Both of us?"

"Yeah"

"That bad huh?"

"Your sons are too much like you"

"They're always my sons when they're in trouble"

"Well they're in big trouble and we have to go"

"Man, Fury is gonna kill us, do you think theres any way Pepper could go and-"

"Clint, Pepper took the day off yesterday to take Evelyn to the dentist"

"Oh yeah, what about Coulson? Couldn't he-"

"He's in Tahiti"

"Right. Hill could-"

"Clint, remember last night when we discussed how you desperately wanted more children? Well that's never going to happen if we can't control the ones we have"

"Right, okay. Let's go then"

"You go tell Fury we've got to bail, I'll go organise transport with Hill"

"But can't you tell Fury and I'll-"

"Clint. Your sons are in trouble; hurry up"

* * *

Clint and Natasha took the jet back to the tower to get changed (they were no longer allowed to turn up at the preschool in their work uniform; too many weapons, although they were still armed when they were in their everyday clothes; they were somewhat more discreet) before driving to the preschool.

"What do you think they did this time?" Clint asked as they sat in traffic.

"Can't be any worse than last week"

"The paint fight?"

"No"

"The time they convinced all the other kids it was 'don't wear pants day'?"

"No"

"Oh, when they stole all the snacks and ate them before the others could have any?"

"No, the time they snuck out and hid in the supply closet; the staff were so worried they called the cops"

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that..."

"What do you think is wrong with them lately? They were always so well behaved"

"Maybe it's the preschool... They're always well behaved at home"

"Clint, last week they cut Evie's hair"

"Oh right yeah. We're never gonna have more kids are we?"

"It's not looking likely"

* * *

When they reached the preschool the manager was waiting for them with Elijah and Henry in her office.

"Mr and Mrs Barton" she greeted them sternly as they entered. Elijah climbed into Natasha's lap and was asleep within the minute. Henry sat on Clint's knee and sat quietly while the adults spoke.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this Mr and Mrs Barton; but if your sons don't improve their behaviour soon we'll be forced to suggest they attend a different preschool"

"What did they do this time?" Clint asked, looking down at his sons; Henry sat on his own knee, playing with the buttons on his top, while Elijah slept in his mothers arms, clutching her hand in his while he dozed. The two of them looked so angelic and well behaved; how could they be so mischievous when he and Natasha weren't there?

"Elijah and Henry built a fort and refused to come out for nap time, then they threw blocks at anyone who tried to approach them, and injured several members of staff"

"They're two. How much 'injuring' could they do?" Natasha asked sceptically

"We had to call the paramedics"

"Oh"

"We would appreciate it if you would talk to your sons. We know you're both busy, and your daughter was always well behaved when she was here, but this has gotten out of control, I can't keep calling you every other day and my staff can't look after an entire class when your sons are acting up. Have you ever considered separating them? Putting them in different classes may help"

"We'll talk with them Miss. Sargeson, I don't think it'll come to separating them. I'm sure it'll be fine"

"Well we'll see Mr Barton. Thanks for coming down to collect them early. I hope I won't be seeing you both too soon"

"Goodbye"

* * *

Natasha sat at the table rubbing her temples;

"Maybe we should consider splitting them up Clint?"

"No. They're brothers; best friends. It's not fair on them"

"But they're not behaving. I don't understand. Is this our fault? Are we doing something wrong?"

"Tasha no, they're fine. They're just being boys"

"Boys who sent someone to the emergency room today Clint!"

"They're the sons of two assassins, what more do you expect?"

"Exactly my point, this isn't normal behaviour"

"Look, we'll talk with them, and see how that goes. Okay?"

* * *

"So did you talk to the boys?" Pepper asked over a glass of wine that evening

"Yeah, we shouldn't have any more issues"

Natasha sighed. She was not as optimistic as Clint was that they'd solved the problem.

"They said; 'they liked being naughty because then we pick them up early'" Natasha explained

"Oh" was all Pepper responded

"Exactly" Natasha replied

"It's not that bad, we spoke to them and they'll behave from now on" Clint told them both confidently

The two women raised their eyebrows at him, and in that moment Tony realised his girlfriend had probably been spending too much time with the assassin.

"Well if you ask me-" Tony began

"No one did" Natasha interrupted

He continued anyway;  
"You guys deserve what's coming; you had it too easy with Evelyn, she was too good. Now you have a dynamic duo going through the terrible twos, and what's worse; they're exactly like birdbrain"

"Thanks a lot Stark"

"They'll get through it and you'll all be fine. But it's gonna be a lot of fun watching you try!"

"Just you wait Stark, I bet you'll have kids one day; and I hope they're as much of a pain as you are!"


	21. Babysitting Mistake

_In this chapter; Evie is six and Elijah and Henry are three_

* * *

Clint and Natasha had to go to an important SHIELD function; attendance was not optional.  
They left their kids under the watchful eye of Tony Stark (after being left with no other choices)  
several hours later they arrived back at the tower; surprised to find all three kids in bed fast asleep.  
They thanked Tony, who left with a smug grin; "And ye had little faith"

Three hours later Henry appeared at their bedroom door, he tugged on Natasha's arm to wake her

"Moma, I can't sleep"

"What's up bud?"

"Scary dreams"

Natasha looked at the clock; It wasn't even 2am yet

"You want to sleep with me and your dad?"

He nodded enthusiastically, scooting over Natasha and snuggling down between his parents

Half an hour later Natasha felt Elijah climbing into the bed too, whispering to Henry to move up and make room.

At 3.30 Natasha felt another tug at her arm, more gentle than the last. She opened her eyes, not the least bit surprised to see Evie stood at her bedside.

"I had a nightmare" she told her mom, silent tears streaming down her face. Natasha shifted backwards slightly and Evie climbed in the bed, settling in Natasha's arms.

The twins behind her shifted and Natasha heard a loud bang as Clint fell out of bed. She struggled as she tried not to laugh, even through the darkness she knew Clint was glaring as he grabbed the spare pillow and lay back down on the floor

"Go to sleep on the couch or in one of the kids beds" Natasha whispered

"Too tired to move. G'night"

The next morning Natasha was woken when an elbow hit her sharply in the back. She rolled over to see Henry squirming in his sleep. His movements pushed his brother out of the bed, who landed on Clint. Natasha guessed it was not a pleasant way to be woken up judging by the cursing coming out of her husbands mouth, again she stifled her laughter as Clint stood, glaring at her once again.

"What the hell happened last night? How'd we end up with all three in our bed?"

"They couldn't sleep"

"All of them?"

"Unca Tony let us watch a scary movie" Elijah said sleepily, still dangling from Clint's arms

"Oh" Clint and Natasha said in unison, now it was making sense.

"I'm gonna kill Tony" Clint said, rubbing his stomach where Elijah had landed on him

"Told you we should have skipped the party last night"

"Next time, I'll fly to wherever the hell Darcy is and pick her up"

"You going to tell Stark he can't babysit his godsons again?"

"No, he lets us live here rent free! He'll just have to be supervised while he babysits..."

"Daddy, can we have pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sure we can Evie"

* * *

"Hey Stark, what do you call an appropriate film for kids?"

Tony looked at Natasha over the top of his laptop, sensing where this was heading

"Not The Gremlins?"

"Certain not The Gremlins"

"Sorry Nat, it's a classic! And they said they'd seen it before"

"And you believed them?"

"I'm sorry Nat"

"You're better off apologising to Clint; he's the one that slept on the floor..."


	22. Concerns

_In this chapter; Evie is seven, Elijah and Henry are four, and Pepper is two months pregnant_

* * *

One Monday morning Natasha had the rare chance of a lie-in; she was off work, Clint was taking Evie to school and the boys to preschool, and for the first time ever there had been no emergency which had interrupted her sleep. That was until 7.30 when there was a timid knock on the door. Rubbing her eyes and forcing herself to sit up; she'd just have to resign herself to the fact that as a mother, wife, avenger and agent of SHIELD, she wouldn't get a lie in ever again.

"Come in" she called, wondering which of her children would enter, although they didn't normally knock...  
She was slightly surprised to see it was Pepper who entered, still in her pyjamas, pink fluffy slippers on her feet, smiling apologetically at Natasha.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I was getting up anyway, what's up?"

"Sorry, Clint let me in. Do you have a minute?"  
The seriousness of her tone did not escape Natasha's attention

"Sure"  
Pepper strode over and at on the end of the bed, Natasha stayed silent, waiting until her friend was ready to talk. It took a while, but eventually Pepper took a deep breath before blurting out;

"I'm pregnant"  
Natasha wanted to congratulate her friend, but Pepper's tone told her it may not be good news.

"Are you... Is this what you wanted?"

"I don't know... It's just... It's hard"

Natasha nodded her understanding; Pepper and Tony already had a son, he was three and had been diagnosed with Down's syndrome when he was just two days old. Jacob was a lovely happy little boy, always playful and well behaved. Evie, Elijah and Henry doted on their younger cousin, and he was Pepper and Tony's world.  
Living the lives they lead made it difficult to care for a child, but a child with Down's syndrome needed extra care and attention. Natasha knew how Pepper worried about him, and with a baby to look after too; her job would become that much harder.

"Have you told Tony?"

Pepper nodded; "he's so excited, he keeps telling me he wants a daughter. It's Evie's fault" she laughed.

Natasha smiled thinking of her own daughter; she was now seven and growing up so fast. Her sons were four, almost five and turning into little terrors. She missed the baby stages of their childhood, but now they were older it was easier; they were more independent. Pepper would never have that with Jacob.

"Did you ever talk about having more children?"

"Yeah, but I always thought it'd be when Jacob was older... But then i wasn't feeling well, and I missed my period... I convinced myself it wasn't true. But i took a test the other day, and it was positive"

"Look Pepper, you know you've got the support of Tony, and everyone who lives in the tower. I don't know how me and Clint would cope without all of you"

"I know, i guess i'm just scared. I'll be fine, thanks Nat"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, i'm just panicking"

"If it makes you feel any better, you're doing much better than I did"

"You panicked too?"

"I think panic would be an understatement" she said with a laugh

"Really, which time?"

"Both. The first time I was convinced it was wrong, i was sure I couldn't get pregnant, it took me a long time to believe it, and then i freaked out. The second time I was pregnant with twins; I really freaked out. Clint was great tho. He's used to dealing with my crazy"

Pepper smiled at her friend and turned to leave, thanking her one more. As she reached the door she stopped as Natasha said;

"Hey Pepper; congratulations"


	23. Confession

_In this chapter; Evie is seven, Elijah and Henry are five, Jacob is four, Natasha is two months pregnant and Pepper is four months pregnant_

* * *

Being pregnant was harder than Pepper remembered, but Jacob was excited, Tony was thrilled and Pepper had learned to relax (a little).

One evening Jane was taking her nieces to the movies with Darcy and Thor, they offered to take Evie, Elijah, Henry and Jacob along too.  
Two sets of exhausted parents hastily agreed, thanking their friends for a quiet night in.  
Bruce cooked everyone dinner, Steve and Natasha tidied up, and Tony provided alcohol. He rarely drank anymore, not since Jacob had been born, but occasionally he let himself go; and he was always a bad influence on Clint.

An hour later and Pepper had taken the scotch off Tony, a few drinks more and Natasha banned Clint from drinking any more either.

"Hey Widow, how come you're not drinking?"

Natasha's cheeks flushed red as all five sets of eyes darted towards her. Although Tony was by far the drunkest (infact everyone but him and Clint were completely sober), he was the only one to notice Natasha's abstinence of the alcohol him and Clint had been gulping down.

"I'll tell you why; it's because we're pregnant!" Clint all but shouted proudly.

"WHAT?!" Tony gasped, spilling the remaining bit of scotch left in his glass.

Five sets of eyes flicked to Clint momentarily, before returning to look at Natasha who signed and nodded, confirming her drunk husband's confession.

Natasha tried to be angry at Clint, but she just couldn't. He was absolutely beaming; he couldn't wait to become a father again. She could hardly blame him for being excited, and the look he gave her in that moment; one of sheer happiness, could melt her heart.

"Congratulations!" came several voices, as Pepper got up to hug her friend.

"You know what, you two should really stop sleeping together. I mean, you make cute kids, but I don't think the tower can cope with anymore mini yous running around!" Tony slurred, laughing slightly at his joke.

"There's about to be another mini you running round too Tony. A mini you has gotta be worse than a mini me" Clint answered back

"Yeah, but your mini yous are mini Tasha's too. That's two times assassin-y trouble in one little person. And you already have three!"

Natasha was not quite sure who was drunker, and felt this conversation could go on for a while...  
The four sober adults left them on the sofa arguing, and went into the kitchen to get some coffee.

"So Tasha, how long til baby Barton is here?" Bruce asked, pouring himself a cup of decaf.

"About six and a half months yet, we were going to tell you guys next month when I reached the second trimester"

"Wait, is this why you were taken into hospital last week?"

She nodded, taking a drink of her own decaf

"You told us it was anemia which made you collapse" Steve sounded hurt that he'd been lied too

"I know, I'm sorry. We just wanted to make sure everything was okay first"

"And it is? Everything's okay?"

"Yeah everything's fine" she smiled

"Our kids are going to be so close in age" Pepper smiled, the moment she'd found out Natasha was pregnant too she'd felt more at ease. Someone else would be going through the same things as her. The first time Pepper had found out she was pregnant was just after the twins had been born.

"Yeah, they'll only be about a month and a half apart"

"That'll be nice for them" Steve smiled, seemingly forgiving Natasha for keeping this secret from him.

Tony appeared in the kitchen;

"Hey Widow! Your husband's asleep. But also, I was thinking, are you guys gonna need a bigger floor now? Cause I can build you another bedroom but how many more are you planning on having exactly?"

"Goodnight Tony! Night guys!" Natasha said, before exiting to drag her husband to bed. She guessed she'd be putting the kids to bed when they got back...


	24. Aunt Darcy

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are four, and Natasha is five months pregnant. Jacob is four and Pepper is seven months pregnant_

* * *

The Avengers (and their partners) were all required to attend a fundraising event in order to boost their public profile. Fury had arranged the whole thing; transportation, press coverage, he had the fantastic four on standby in case of an emergency and he'd cleared all their calendars. One thing he hadn't thought of was finding a babysitter.

He didn't tell the Avengers about it until the night before; not wanting to give them a change to find an excuse to get out of it.

"What are we supposed to do with Jacob?" Tony asked, when he realised Pepper was supposed to be joining him there.

"And what about Evelyn, Henry and Elijah?" Clint added. "All our usual babysitters are going to be at the fund raiser"

Between the six Avengers, Pepper, Jane, Coulson, Hill and the Fantastic Four; anyone who usually babysat for them would be with them, or on standby for an attack. Anyone looking after their kids had to be security cleared by SHIELD and with the event tomorrow; it was looking unlikely they'd find anyone.

Natasha volunteered her and Pepper to stay with the kids and Tony agreed it was a good idea; Pepper was seven months pregnant and he could almost guarantee she'd rather stay at home with her feet up than be dragged around a boring party in an evening gown. Natasha was five months pregnant and had been suffering with dizziness for the past few days; she was not enthusiastic about attending SHIELD events at the best of times and really didn't want to go to this one.  
Fury told the team he'd rather Clint and Tony stayed home, he really wanted Natasha and Pepper there (they presented a better image), but assured them he'd find someone to sit.

He was saved from trying too hard when Darcy Lewis arrived in New York with Jane Foster.

"Ah Miss Lewis! You wouldn't happen to be free tomorrow night and want to babysit would you?" Fury asked, almost too politely; Natasha raised her eyebrows, she couldn't believe he was trying to suck up to her.

"Darcy was actually invited to the-" Jane began

"Oh I'd love to!" Darcy answered, she wasn't too thrilled about going to the party to begin with, and she loved spending time with the Avengers kids! It had been a while since she'd seen them last and felt guilty about getting so tied up with work. She was Evie's godmother and hated missing time with her.  
Fury looked questioningly at Natasha who nodded her approval.

* * *

Darcy put some popcorn in the microwave and twirled round with Jacob in her arms while she waited for it to finish, he giggled hysterically and waved his arms in the air.

There was a bang as Elijah dropped the bottle of pop he'd been getting from the fridge

"Don't worry kid, we'll sort that in a minute" Darcy reassured him with a smile.

"Darcy why don't you visit us more?" Evie asked from her perch on the counter top

"I wish I could Evie, but my job is far away"

"Can't you get a new one? One close by?"

"I wish I could sweetie"

"I bet if you asked Uncle Phil he could get you a job with him. That's nearby! And then you could work with mommy and daddy"

"Then maybe Uncle Tony could give you a floor of the tower and you could live here with us!" Henry added, Evie looked at Darcy excitedly and nodded.

Darcy looked at her awkwardly, not knowing what to say. She didn't have to think of answer however when Clint called his goodbyes from the other room and the children all ran to say goodnight to their parents.

Natasha wore a floor length black gown, subtly showing her growing bump while Clint wore a smart black suit and purple shirt. Pepper joined them a minute later wearing a pant suit and a red top (it was the only nice thing she had which fit over her stomach) and Tony was right behind her in his usual attire.  
The parents made the rounds kissing and hugging their children goodnight, warning them to be on their best behaviour, and assuring Darcy they all had their phones and wouldn't be back late.

* * *

"Aunt Darcy"

"Yes Henry?"

"It's my birthday next week! I'm going to be five! That's a whole hand! Look!" he held out a sticky jam-covered hand and waved it front of her face

"I know Henry; I was there the day you were born" she smiled, grabbing his hand and wiping it clean

"Aunt Darcy"

"Yes Elijah?"

"It's my birthday next week too!"

"I know sweetie, it's the same day as your brothers"

"Yeah but mines first!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"I'm older!"

"No! I am!"

"Darcy who's older? Me or Elijah?"

"Erm..." Darcy honestly couldn't remember, she'd not long since been able to tell the two of them apart!

"Elijah you're older" Evie answered  
Damn, Darcy was going to guess Henry.

Now the film was over Jacob, Elijah and Henry really should go to bed... But a few more minutes wouldn't hurt...

They built a fort, essentially rearranging the whole layout of Clint and Natasha's floor to make it work. They dragged the new crib from the nursery and used it and the couch as the two walls. They used Henry and Elijah's bedding to soften the floor and used Clint and Natasha's bedding as the roof. They used stools from the kitchen as the back and propped the tv in front of it.

Jacob fell asleep wrapped in his Trex dressing gown on one of Evie's pillows in the fort.  
Elijah and Henry decided to act out a fight scene dressed at Iron Man (Elijah) and Thor (Henry), although they both sulked off when Evie asked why Uncle Tony and Uncle Thor were fighting each other and not a bad guy. The only way Darcy could cheer them up was to pretend to be a villain and allow them to chase her round the apartment.  
Eventually Evie joined in pretending to be her mom; initially the boys had just chased her round in circles but when Evie became involved there were strategies and plans of attack. Much more organised Henry chased Darcy down the hallway while Elijah gripped her leg tightly, forcing Darcy to drag him across the floor in order to escape Henry. Seemingly out of nowhere Evie jumped her and the four of them fell laughing to the floor.

Now exhausted, Darcy ordered two pizzas; a hawaiian for her and Evie and a margarita for the boys. Jacob had woken when the tackling debacle had resulted in a loud crash; he'd insisted he needed to wear his 'Capman Merican' outfit when he saw the others in their Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow costumes.

"Do you have a dress up costume Aunt Darcy?" Elijah asked, slightly preoccupied with the tub of Ben and Jerry's he was working his way through.  
Darcy blushed slightly and moved the conversation swiftly on.

* * *

Another film over, and Jacob was back asleep on the armchair, still wearing his Captain America costume and clutching his toy shield.

The sound of the elevator alerted Darcy to the teams arrival, looking at her watch and seeing it past midnight she panicked; "Quick hide!"

Evie, Elijah and Henry darted behind the couch as Darcy tried to compose herself, sat in the midst of a fort and the credits of Finding Nemo still scrolling down the TV.

Natasha, Clint, Pepper and Tony walked into the room, turning on the lights and eyed Darcy suspiciously.  
There were five plates piled on the floor, several cups of half finished pop dotted about the room and two empty pizza boxes. The four of them looked at the grown woman sat in a pillow fort watching a Disney movie alone and chose not to question it.

Tony scooped his son up and shook his head at his outfit; "I told you to buy him the Iron Man one!" he whispered to Pepper as they left. "He didn't want the Iron Man one Tony, he wanted the 'Capman Merican' one" Pepper replied as they boarded the elevator after offering their thanks to Darcy.

"I'll help you tidy!" Darcy said, scrambling to her feet, suddenly remembering the spilled bottle of pop still on the kitchen floor.

"I'm going to check on the kids" Natasha said

Darcy risked a glace behind the fort to see the three kids were still crouched there in their superhero outfits, not in bed asleep as they should be

"Erm, before you do that-" Darcy began, and then faltered at Natasha's expression.

"They're not in bed yet are they?"

"What? What do you mean? Of course they- No, they're behind the couch" Darcy admitted

"Evelyn, Elijah, Henry..."

"We're sorry mom!" Henry said, appearing from behind the couch

"Mom, I am older than Henry aren't I?" Elijah asked, not having forgotten the conversation from earlier this evening

"Mom, can Darcy babysit again one time? She's the best babysitter ever!" Evie said, strolling over to Natasha and hugging her.

"Sure she can Лингпаука, if she still wants to that is..."

Three excited faces turned to face Darcy who smiled and nodded.

Clint tidied the room, dragging the furniture into its original layout, while Natasha took the boys to bed, having some difficulty persuading them to take off their costumes, and Darcy took Evie to bed.

She tucked her in and read her favourite story, stroking her hair from her face she kissed her cheek and turned to leave. As she reached the door and switched off the light she heard Evie ask;

"Aunt Darcy, will you come back soon? I really miss you when you're gone"

"Sure I will sweetie"

"You promise?"

"I promise"


	25. Unanswered Questions

_In this chapter; Evie is seven, Elijah, Henry & Jacob are four, Oliver is one week old, and Natasha is eight months pregnant_

* * *

Sunday was the one morning a week the team made sure they all ate together and this one was no different. It was something of a reunion; Darcy and Jane were visiting, Thor was home from Asgard and Pepper had just returned home from the hospital with Oliver.  
Tony cooked, Bruce passed round the drinks and conversion flowed easily between the friends while the four kids made an enormous mess with their pancakes.

"Uncle Steve do you know what I think..?" Evie asked, climbing down from her seat at the table next to her mother and sitting next to him on the sofa, snuggling in under his arm and leading her head on his shoulder. His large arms made the young girl look much smaller than she actually was

"What do you think Eve?" he responded curiously, pushing her long blond curls out of his face

"I think you and Aunt Darcy should have a baby"

Darcy choked on her cereal, Steve's jaw went slightly slack and his face flushed bright red. Everyone else had gone quiet, turning to stare at either Darcy, or Steve and Evie.  
Pepper suddenly excused herself from the room to go and check on her infant son. Tony was the one to finally break the awkward silence with a quiet laugh, while Jane hit Darcy on her back as she was still coughing and spluttering.

"But little spider, Uncle Steve and Aunt Darcy aren't married" Clint tried throwing his friends a life line, "They aren't even dating"

"But they _should_ be! I hear Mommy and Aunt Pepper talk about it _aalllllll_ the time!"

Darcy and Steve both turned to face Natasha, who in her heavily pregnant state seemed more prone to blushing than usual; her flushed cheeks almost rivaled Steve's. Pepper had clearly foreseen Evie's admittance and planned her escape.

"I just think it'd be nice... Aunt Pepper and Uncle Tony just had a baby and Mommy and Daddy are about to... Besides, then Darcy could come live here with us!" Evie stated excitedly, trailing off slightly at the end. "Also, if you do have a baby please can it be a girl? Daddy thinks Mommy is having another boy and if he's right then all the kids except from me will be boys" she added as an afterthought

"Don't worry Лингпаука, your Daddy is always wrong" Natasha told her, winking at Clint who leaned in and whispered into her ear; "It's a good job I love you so damn much Natasha, or that comment would have hurt!" Natasha smiled up at him and pulled him into a kiss as an apology, despite the face she knew his comment was just teasing, she felt the grin growing on his face as he returned the kiss.

"What about you and Aunt Jane, Uncle Thor? You guys are a couple. When will you have kids?" Evie asked, contemplating her father's earlier statement

Jane laughed at Evie's question. Clint looked worryingly over at Natasha; their daughter had been listening into too many of their conversations again!  
Jane looked over to Thor waiting for him to explain that they wouldn't be having children, at least not anytime soon but she saw consideration in his gaze

"Yes Jane, when will we have a child?"

Now it was Jane's turn to choke on her food. Darcy burst into hysterical laughter glad the focus had been switched off her and Jacob joined her in laughter; not one hundred percent sure why he was laughing, but enjoying himself nonetheless.

"Erm, maybe we should go..." Clint said nervously, wiping up the mess the boys had made with the syrup while eating their breakfast

"But nobody answered my questions!" Evie moaned, tugging on Steve's arm

"Evelyn sweetheart, not everybody has babies. Some people just have a good time looking after their niece and nephews" Steve explained, hoping to pacify his goddaughter

"Oh" she said, temporarily accepting his explanation. Though Clint and Natasha sensed her tone meant they'd be facing more questions about this later on.

Natasha took two equally sticky hands in hers and lead the boys down the hallway to get cleaned up, shooting apologetic gazes to Darcy, Jane and Steve as she made her exit. Evie skipped down the hallway behind her, she could be heard asking "Mom, if Dad is right and you do have a boy, can you have _another_ baby so I can _finally_ have a sister?" as she boarded the elevator with the others  
"What's so bad with having brothers?" Henry asked her, wiping syrup off his hand onto his jeans

"Sorry guys" Clint added, "Who knows where kids get these ideas..."

"What do you mean? I heard you and Bruce talking about Thor and Jane having a baby the the other day!" Tony said loudly to Clint

"Tony, you're worse than the kids!" Clint told him as he felt Jane staring at him


	26. Melina

**(In this chapter; Evie is seven, Elijah, Henry & Jacob are four, Oliver is one week old and Natasha is eight months pregnant)**

* * *

Clint and Natasha had a rare day off and took the kids to the park.  
Clint spent most of the morning running around with the boys, while Natasha watched on fondly as her and Evie strolled by the stream; Evie informing her mother of exactly what she'd like for her birthday next month.  
Natasha looked up to see a woman approaching her husband, who had sat down for a break while the boys had run off to the play on the climbing area.

"Mom, who's that talking to Dad?"

"I don't know Лингпаука" she shrugged off; they were approached fairly often while they were out and about, a side effect of being in the public eye.  
Natasha approached them slowly as Evie ran over to the swings to play with her brothers.

"Do you remember me?"

Clint looked the woman over, she was tall and slim, had long dark hair and looked just a tad older than Natasha, she was vaguely familiar... But he wasn't sure why...

"Becky Lisborn..." she prompted

"Oh. Becky!" he smiled nervously as Natasha joined them, slipping her hand into Clints. Natasha smiled at her, Becky took a moment to look at Natasha, taking in her heavily pregnant appearance and glancing at the three children playing behind them, but Becky pretty much chose to ignore her.

"Becky this is my wife, Natasha. Tasha, this is Becky... What brings you to New York Becky? Last time I saw you, you were living in Texas"

"Well actually, we came to New York because I was hoping to run into you..."

"You were? Why?"

"Clint Barton, do you want to meet your daughter?"

"Wha-"... "That's not-"... "You're-"... Clint faltered for words

Becky continued the conversation; "Her name is Melina, she's 13 and she's been asking a lot of questions about her father. I think it's time she got some answers"

Clint glanced at Natasha, still unable to form a sentence. Her expression was calm and she squeezed his hand in support.

"Would you meet us for coffee tomorrow Clint?" Becky asked

Clint stuttered but agreed

"Great, me and Melina will meet you at 1. See you then" and with that, she turned and walked off. Leaving a very shaken Clint to try and figure out how the hell this had happened.

* * *

They took the kids back to the tower and left them playing on the wii, giving Natasha and Clint chance to talk things over.  
He passed Natasha a mug of decaf while he poured himself a large serving of vodka, gulping it in one and pouring himself another

"Clint?"

"I'm sorry Tasha, I'm so sorry. Me and Becky... I met her when I was undercover at NASA, it was before me and you..."

"I know, I know" she said sadly, she knew he'd been with other women before her. They'd both had previous partners, but this was something she hadn't been expecting...

"Clint, are you sure-"

"I don't know what to think Tasha, it was just a one night thing before I got pulled off the mission, that's when they sent me to Budapest, to find you"

"Clint, you're a fantastic dad to our kids, and if Melina is yours then I think she deserves you to be a dad to her too..."

"But I should check first right, that's what you're saying?"

"Yes"

"That means I have to tell Bruce, he can do the test..."

Natasha nodded silently. They news was hitting her harder than it should. She could blame the hormones, but she knew it was more likely to be the thought that Clint had a child that wasn't with her that was making her feel sick. She excused herself to lie down while Clint went to speak to Bruce.

* * *

"Bruce, can I ask you a favour?"

"You want a babysitter?"

"No"

"Okay then... What is it?"

"Do you have the equipment to run a DNA test?"

"Wow Barton, does Natasha know you're practically accusing her of cheating?" Tony said, entering the lab without knocking. Clint sighed, great; now Tony knew too.

"This isn't about Tasha" Clint said, somewhat agitated that he couldn't have had this conversation in private

"Old girlfriend come out of the woodwork?"

"Something like that"

Both men stared at Clint; it was pretty big news

"Well?" He prompted

"Yeah we can do the test, we just need a DNA sample from your- from the kid"

Tony handed Clint a swab and explained to him what was needed before leaving the lab again

"Hey Clint, how's Tasha?"

"She's- she's coping"

* * *

Clint decided he needed to know sooner rather than later, he couldn't wait until tomorrow to find out...  
He dug out Becky's business card she'd given him before leaving the park and rang to arrange a meeting. She was less than pleased that Clint had questioned the paternity but agreed nonetheless.  
He watched from a distance as Becky took the DNA sample, and thanked her as she handed it back and stormed off, leaving Clint just a moment to glimpse Melina from a distance; she was slim and tall like her mom, had brown shoulder length hair and a cheeky smile. Clint felt torn; he didn't want to be the father, but he did want the little girl to feel loved and wanted, if he wasn't the father he hoped someone who deserved he was. He'd been preparing to become a father again; Natasha was eight months pregnant, but he hadn't been preparing himself to be that father of a teenage girl anytime soon.

* * *

There was a gentle knock at the door

"Hello?" Natasha called from where she was lay on the bed

Pepper opened the door and handed her another cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin

"You okay Nat?"

"Did Clint tell you?"

"No, Tony"

"Tony knows?"

"'Farid so"

"I just, I don't know how to feel Pepper..."

Natasha felt guilty, this should be about Clint. Not to mention the fact that Pepper had only come home from the hospital that week; Oliver was less than a week old, and here she was looking after her.

"It's understandable Nat, it's going to be a big adjustment"

"Yeah, _if_ it comes to that..."

"You don't think she's his?"

"I'm not sure, something makes me think not"

"Tasha..."

"No I know Pepper, I know there's every possibility and I shouldn't convince myself either way... There's just something about that woman that bothers me..."

Pepper grabbed Natasha's hand, hoping her friend wasn't getting her hopes up, but nodded at her encouragingly before leaving her to get some rest; being just two weeks from her due date left Natasha easily tired and the bombshell which had just been dropped definitely wasn't helping.

* * *

Clint walked back into the lab to find everyone (other than Pepper and the kids) waiting for him. Apparently Tony had told everyone, and then went to drag Natasha down to the lab to await the result.

Tony seemed almost certain it would be positive; "You have a knack of knocking women up the first time you sleep with them"

"That wasn't the first time me and Tasha had slept together Tony" Clint corrected him

"You broke up for four years, it was a new relationship; it counts as a first"

"Whatever Tony" Clint sighed, he was too emotionally drained to argue

Bruce ran the test and handed the results straight over to Clint and waited for him to read it

Clint scanned over the printout and froze. Everyone was staring at him, waiting. In the end Tony got bored of waiting and snatched the results from him;

"I knew it! It's... Wait... It's negative?"

Clint smiled at Natasha, he felt overwhelmingly relieved.

* * *

"Well that was an_ interesting_ day" Clint said, settling back onto the couch beside Natasha after putting the kids to bed

"Clint"

"What is it Tasha?"

"Don't dare do that to me again" she warned him, before getting up and walking to the bedroom, leaving him sat alone on the couch.


	27. Overdue

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah & Henry are four, Jacob is four, Oliver is one month old and Natasha is 43 weeks pregnant_

* * *

Thor, Jane, Darcy, Bruce and Steve had taken Evie, Elijah and Henry away for the weekend to give Natasha and Clint some peace and quiet. Natasha was now three weeks overdue; she was incredibly uncomfortable and hadn't slept properly for weeks, she was completely fed up and felt absolutely enormous, no matter how much Clint assured her she wasn't that big.

They'd had breakfast on the communal floor with Pepper and Tony, the others had gotten up and started tidying away, Natasha stayed sat on the couch; mostly because she struggled to get up without Clint's assistant and didn't want to ask him for help in front of Tony

"What's with all the pineapple Widow?" Tony asked, opening the fridge

"It's supposed to help start labour" Clint explained, clearing up their breakfast things

"It works too, well, it did for me" Pepper added, warming up Oliver's bottle

"Well I hope so; I can't stand being pregnant any longer! The doctors said if i'm not in labour by the end of the week I have to have a casarean. Everything they've tried so far has failed"

"He'll come when he's ready Nat" Clint told her, earning himself a scowl from his wife

"He? I thought you didn't know what you were having" Pepper asked, taking her son from Tony

"We don't, Clint's convinced it's a boy, which makes me positive it's a girl; Clint's always wrong" now it was Clint's turn to glower at his wife

"Come on, it's obviously a boy; he's stubborn and lazy. That's why you're overdue" Clint said matter of factly

"You know what else helps kick start labour?" Tony asked, sitting down opposite Natasha

"What?" Natasha asked, not sure Tony would actually offer any useful advice

"Sex"

Clint seemed suddenly interested in the conversation and stood up from where he was helping Jacob build a tower with his blocks

"Don't get your hopes up Barton!"

"But Nat, if it has a chance of working-"

"You try and touch me; I break your wrist" she warned Clint sternly

"Hey, I didn't say you had to have sex with each other" Tony added, winking at her.  
He watched her carefully, ready to duck under whatever she might throw at him. She didn't move, in fact if it hadn't been for the faint hint of a smirk on her face he'd think she hadn't heard him. Then one of Jacob's blocks hit him squarely in the side of the head.

"No throwing Uncle Clint!" Jacob said, shaking his finger at him

"You tell him Jacob!" Tony added, laughing at his sons expression, "but in all seriousness Widow; it works"

"You know from experience?" Clint asked

"No, the pineapple worked before we had chance to test it out" Tony said, sounding slightly mournful

"Come on Tasha, it might be the last chance we get for a while!"

Natasha glared at him once more, and he finally dropped the subject

* * *

That evening Clint and Natasha watched a film together, enjoying their weekend off without the kids

"It's weird, it's so quite" Clint thought out loud

"It won't be for much longer" Natasha answered, unconsciously rubbing at her stomach

"You sure you don't want to give Tony's method a shot? There's no chance of interruptions for once"

"Clint, I just don't feel..."

He immediately sensed the tone behind her words; she was upset and frustrated

"Tasha, what's up?"

"I just don't feel like me... I'm huge"

"You mean you don't feel sexy?" Clint asked, reading between the lines

She nodded, absent-mindedly picking at a loose thread on her jumper

"Tasha" he said gently, shifting down the couch so he was nearer her "I always find you sexy"

He shifted her position so she was underneath him and straddled her hip, leaning down he kissed her intensely; showing her much he wanted her. He felt her respond; reaching up to return the kiss. Clint smiled; glad he'd finally managed to break through her bad mood.

"Tasha-"

"Shut up Clint" Natasha stopped him talking by pulling his top over his head.  
He grinned to himself, returning to kiss her passionately and unbottoning her shirt

Natasha suddenly went rigid, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she grabbed her stomach

"Already?" Clint asked

Natasha exhaled sharply and nodded; "What was that you said about not being interrupted?"

"Obviously takes after their brothers and sister" Clint said, climbing from the couch and pulling his clothes back on. "Well, Tony will be happy to hear his idea worked... Even if we didn't get to finish"


	28. Tony's Babysitting Nightmare

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are five and Alexis is 3 weeks old_

* * *

Pepper had volunteered her and Tony to babysit for Clint and Natasha so they could have sometime to themselves, however Pepper had then been called to London for an urgent meeting, and Tony had been left alone looking after four children.  
It wasn't as if he'd never been around them before, he was around them all the time, he'd just never been the sole adult responsible for them before.

Natasha had put Alexis to bed before they'd gone out to dinner; her being just three weeks old, pretty much all she did was sleep. It was the other three he was concerned about.

Clint had given Tony instructions that Henry was to be in bed by 8 (he had to go to bed earlier for misbehaving earlier in the day), Elijah's bedtime was 8.30, and Evie's was 9. Henry needed some Tylenol before he went to bed for his ear infection, they were not to have anything sugary to eat, they were not to watch any scary films, and Evie was not to read any of their SHIELD files. The list of rules went on and on but Tony had pretty much stopped listening.

Clint and Natasha said goodbye to their kids, promised Tony they would be back early, and turned to leave. Tony grabbed Natasha's elbow before she could and whispered to her; "which twin is which?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Henry is the one on the left"

"Right, gotcha! Have a nice night!" he smiled as they left.

* * *

"Uncle Tony can I have a candy bar?" Elijah asked

"Sure, one won't hurt right?"

"Thanks Uncle Tony!" he said, already halfway to the kitchen.

"But mom and dad said no snacks" Evie informed Tony

"Shush! Stop tattling!" Henry said

"You shush!"

"No you!"

"Alright kids, it's fine. I said he could have one. Do you guys want one?"

Henry jumped to his feet and ran to the kitchen after his brother, Evie just raised her eyebrows looking at him suspiciously, it unnerved Tony how much she looked like Natasha in that moment. She disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, returning a minute later with a bowl of blueberries;

"You know they're each on their fifth chocolate bar right?"

"What?!" Tony stammered, clambering to his feet, and running to the kitchen. He dragged them both back into the lounge to find Evie had switched the TV channel.

* * *

Looking at his watch a short while later, her realised it was past Henry's bedtime, but was faced with a challenge when he looked at the two boys and had forgotten which was which.  
At that moment Alexis started crying, getting up from the sofa Tony addressed both boys (just to be safe); "Right Henry, bed time! See you in the morning".  
He left and resettled Alexis, she was so easy in comparison to the others. Tony asked her quietly not to grow up as she gripped his finger tightly with her tiny hand.

When Tony got back to the other room both boys were still sat watching the TV. "Henry, what did I say? Bed time!"

Neither boy moved, they just sat there and stared at the TV. "Henry!"

"Do you even know which one is Henry?" Evie asked from the couch, a Russian novel in her hands. She looked more and more like Natasha every day, the only difference was her hair colour.

Tony studied the boys carefully, they both had Clint's messy blond hair and blue eyes. One was slightly taller than the other, but Tony couldn't remember which way round it was...

He made a guess and pointed to the closest one.

"I'm not Henry!"

"Yes you are!"

"No! I'm Elijah!"

"No you're not! I am!"

"No, you're Henry!"

"Liar!"

"You're a liar!"

"No you are!"

"Okay Evie, which one is Henry?" Tony asked, interrupting the boys argument

She looked up from her book, raised her eyebrow and asked; "Whats in it for me?"

"Oh, I dunno... Getting your brothers into trouble?"

"Nah" she stated, going back to her book.

"Urgh, come on Evie, help me out? Please?"  
She continued to read...

"Alright $10?"

"Pay up first"

Tony rummaged in his jeans, but all he had was a $20.  
"I'll accept a $20"

He passed it over and stood expectantly.  
"Henry's on the right"

"Damn it Evelyn! Why'd you tell?"

"$20! Duh!"

"Not fair"

"Henry! Bed!"

"Right okay, goodnight Uncle Tony"

"Goodnight kiddo"

10 minutes later Henry reappeared; "Uncle Tony, I need my Tylenol"

"Oh, right. Yeah, 1 minute buddy..."

* * *

"Elijah, its 8.30"

"But Henry went to bed later than he should have"

"And?"

"And that's not fair"

"Elijah"

"Alright... Uncle Tony, can I ask you a question first?"

"What is it Elijah?"

"Can you please tell me what quantum physics is?"

"What? Why would you-"

"I heard Uncle Bruce talking about it"

"Oh, right well... Quantum physics is a branch of science that deals with discrete, indivisible units of energy called quanta as described by the Quantum Theory, there are five main ideas represented in Quantum Theory..."

* * *

Over an hour later, after a long discussion with Elijah about basic Quantum physics; Tony had completely lost track of time. It was only when the elevator door opened to reveal Clint and Natasha stood there, wondering why Elijah was still up and Evie was asleep on the couch. They found the ten empty candy wrappers on the kitchen counter, and discovered Henry had snuck into their bedroom to watch TV when he should have been asleep in his own room.

They thanked Tony as he left; finding it oddly funny how three young children could manipulate and fool a genius so easily.

"Hey, one more thing, you owe me $20!"


	29. Reunited

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah & Henry are five, and Alexis is four weeks old_

* * *

Clint felt like his whole world had stopped, he couldn't breathe and panic rose to levels he wasn't aware existed.

Coulson was on the other end of the phone, informing Clint the mission had gone south. They'd lost tabs on Natasha and were being forced to withdraw. He'd known it was foolish sending in one agent; trying to steal weapon plans from the middle of a war torn country was never a mission to be attempted alone. Clint had told Coulson that, he'd warned Hill and Fury as well, but they'd been short staffed, and Natasha had been sent to Sierra Leone solo.  
She'd gone off the grid before the mission had been completed, shortly into the search the safe house had been compromised and the remaining agents had been ordered out of the country.

Tony and Steve disobeyed every order Fury threw at them and went to find her. Little known to everyone, Tony had planted all the Avenger's uniforms with a tracking sensors, and they found her within a matter of hours.

Clint met them at the medical bay, where the doctor informed him she was in critical condition. She had a traumatic head injury; the result of a grenade explosion which had lefter her in a coma.  
Her face was badly bruised, but other than that she looked relatively uninjured. She looked just like she was sleeping and it pained Clint that he couldn't just reach out and wake her.

A week later and the kids were anxious to see their mom, she hadn't improved any but Clint finally gave in and took them to visit her, hoping that somehow their presence would get through to her and help her wake.

He watched as Evie climbed onto the bed next to her, telling her about her week at school. Elijah and Henry had both painted her pictures, sitting together in a large chair by her bedside; they took it in turns to hold her hand.

"When is moma gonna wake up daddy?" Henry asked

Three sets of sad eyes peered in his direction

Alexis started crying from her stroller in the corner, and Clint used it as an excuse to leave the room to go get her bottle warmed up  
He stalked down the hallway before he found an empty room, slamming the door behind him he sat on the bed and cried. How was he going to explain to his four young children that their mom might never wake up?

He regained his composure and went back to his family, when he re-entered the room he noticed how Evie had gotten her sister from the stroller and lay her next to Natasha. The baby had settled instantly and gone back to sleep.

"What's the matter daddy?" she asked, as Clint snuck back in the room

"Were you crying?" Elijah asked, his own face falling as he noticed his father's sad expression

He found himself unable to speak, instead he scooped his sons into his lap hugged them tightly. Evie scrambled from the bed and joined them. Clint held them tightly; he never wanted to let them go. The hardest lesson he'd ever had to learn was that he couldn't always protect those he cared for most.

The kids all moped round the tower for the next few days, even a visit from Darcy and a trip to the fun fair with Pepper, Thor and Bruce didn't cheer them up. Clint felt guilty at upsetting them, but knew they had good reason to be so down. Natasha was still making no progress and each passing day only worsened her prognosis.

He visited the infirmary every day, sometimes with the kids, sometimes alone.  
And then one day, two weeks after the accident; when he was holding her hand and talking absently about past missions to her, but he was interrupted

"You and I remember Budapest very differently" she said hoarsely

His eyes darted to her face, he was sure he'd imagined it. But sure enough Natasha's green eyes met his, and a smile formed on her face mirroring his own

"Tasha! Thank God" he hugged her and kissed her, disbelief still at the forefront of his mind.

The doctors checked her over while Clint rang to ring the tower. Steve answered on the second ring and promised to bring the kids in.

They ran excitedly through SHIELD HQ and up to the infirmary, bringing cards they'd made and flowers they'd bought on the way. The three of them scrambled on the bed and threw themselves into Natasha's arms. Steve followed in with Alexis in his arms. He passed her over to Clint and excused himself from the room, leaving the family to be reunited. Thankful that this time they got a happy ending...


	30. Swapping Places

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are five and Alexis is 2 months old_

* * *

Natasha sighed inwardly as Evie passed her a letter from school.  
There were only ever two reasons the school sent home letters; either one of her kids were in trouble, or the school wanted money for one of the kids various extra-curricular activities (and there were many; dance lessons, science camp, soccer, piano, math tutors, hockey & karate)

She opened the envelope as she watched her children as they fought over the TV controller; Evie won (being the oldest and therefore the tallest), Natasha smiled to herself; watching as Evie flicked the TV over to the boys favorite show anyway. they uttered their thanks in unison and squeezed onto Clint's favorite chair either side of their sister. Evie huffed and shook her head, but Natasha knew she was secretly pleased. The three of them were growing so fast and soon wouldn't fit three to a chair.

Her attention turned back on the letter in her hands, she read;

_Dear Mr and Mrs Barton,_

_It has come to our attention that over the past six months your sons have been swapping places while at school, successfully convincing their teaches, support staff and even their class mates. Elijah has been attending Henry's extra math sessions, science classes and even sat his last test for him. Henry has been going to Elijah's sport sessions and language classes. We would appreciate if you could discuss this with them and explain to them the consequences of their actions._  
_We trust that this will not be an issue again in the future and thank you for your cooperation._

_Mrs. Mitchell,_  
_Headmaster_

Just as she'd finished reading, Clint entered the room holding a freshly bathed Alexis wrapped in a towel. Natasha smiled at him, turned to take her daughter and handed Clint the letter;

"_Your_ sons are in trouble again" she stated, turning to leave the room.

"Why are they always _my_ sons when they're in trouble?!"


	31. Sunday Morning

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are five and Alexis is 3 months old_

* * *

Natasha woke early one Sunday morning when the light flooded in through the curtains. She rolled over slowly to wake Clint to find he wasn't there. Instead three of their children were tucked in; still fast asleep.

Evie was snuggled up to her back, clutching at Natasha's night shirt with one fist and hugging her favourite teddy bear (which was dressed in captain America's uniform) with her other arm. Their twin boys Elijah and Henry were lay together in Clint's usual spot, both sucking their thumbs as they lay back to back, still dreaming with smiles on both of their faces.

Natasha took a moment to relish the peace and calm, knowing they'd soon be awake and running wild. She smiled as she stroked Evies long blond hair from her face. It had been three long days for Natasha; she'd been sent on a solo undercover mission to Brazil and had only gotten back last night; the mission had quickly gone to shit and she'd been extracted by Coulson before completing the objectives. Fury was pissed to say the least, but at lease she was back safely.  
The kids and Clint were all asleep when she'd finally made it back to their floor of the tower. After kissing each of their four children and tucking them back in, Natasha had crawled into her bed and fallen immediately asleep. It seems sometime in the night Clint had been displaced from his place in their bed by their three eldest children. The thought made Natasha grin; Clint was such a push over when it came to their kids.

As if he knew she was thinking of him, Clint appeared in the doorway holding their youngest child; Alexis, she was lay in his arms contently drinking from the bottle he held.

"Pancakes are ready in the kitchen"

"Blueberry?"

"What else?"  
She smiled gratefully at him; she couldn't understand how she got so lucky.  
Sliding from the bed, she took a minute to comfort herself in Clint's open arms, smiling thankfully into his chest as she felt him place a kiss on her forehead, before walking into the dining area of their floor. She should have known better than to expect it to be empty; Steve, Bruce, Tony and Thor sat at their table, all stuffing their faces.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"You got back from your mission last night" Bruce responded, as if that were answer enough.

"Yeah..?"

"Clint always makes pancakes when you get back from solo missions" Tony answered with brutal honesty.

"Yeah, and we wanted to check you were alright, Coulson said the mission was aborted" Steve added, while elbowing Tony sharply in the ribs.  
Natasha laughed as she watched her second family dig into her breakfast as she went to turn the coffee machine on.  
Evie ran up behind Natasha, bounding into her arms. As Elijah and Henry ran in behind her;

"We missed you mommy!" they said in chorus, before launching into several different stories at once, all talking over once another.

"дети; one at a time, mommy's got lots of time to listen to your stories, but if you want some pancakes i'd grab some before your uncles eat them all"  
Clint joined her watching the others, he passed Alexis over to her and smiled brightly.

"Glad to have you back Tasha"

"I'm glad to be back"

Clint wrapped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in tight, Sunday's were his favourite day of the week, but Sunday's where they were all together were rare, which made him smile fondly as Henry and Evie began fighting over the chocolate sauce and Elijah accidentally knocked Tony's mug off the table.


	32. Discoveries

**In this chapter; Evie is eight, Henry & Elijah are five, Jacob is four Oliver is five months old, Alexis is four months old**

* * *

_Henry, Elijah, Thor & Jane_

It was coming to the end of January and the kids still were off school; snow still covered the streets and the past few days had been terrible. The school had been forced to call several snow days until the conditions improved.

Elijah and Henry were bored, and had recently taken to crawling around in the air vents; their parents were less than pleased when they found out!

In their latest venture, they found themselves over Thor's lounge;

"My beautiful Lady Jane, when can we share our exciting news with our friends? I do not understand the secrecy surrounding such a joyous occasion!"

"Soon Thor, I promise. I just want Darcy to be here when we tell everyone, and she's not able to visit for another two weeks. Then you can tell everyone"

"I? Would it not be you to share the news?"

"Thor, we're having a baby. It doesn't matter which one of us tells everyone"

"I see. On Asgard it is always the barer of the child to share the news"

"Well on earth either parent can do it"

Elijah and Henry watched as Thor took Jane into his large arms and planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head before they scurried off.

* * *

_Evie, Natasha & Clint_

Evie was on her way to retrieve her favourite book when she heard her parents hushed tones;

"I don't believe this happened"

"Come on Tasha, its great news!"

"This is all your fault"

"Nat, I think it takes two of us to-"

"You and your stupid ideas!"

"I don't remember you complaining"

"I knew we shouldn't have drank so much"

"Tasha, it was New Year's Eve"

"Clint we just had a baby!"

"You really don't want another baby?" the hurt in his voice made Natasha stop her rant and take a deep breath

"I'm not saying that Clint, I'm just saying that it's very soon"

"Tasha..."

"I'm sorry Clint, it's just a bit of a shock..."

"You think it's a shock? Wait til we tell Stark!" he laughed and Natasha smiled

"You're right though; it is good news. But you have to tell Fury"

"Deal! The kids will be so excited" Clint told her with a smile, he took a step forward closing the gap between them and placed a large hand on her stomach. She was surprisingly skinny for someone who hadn't long since had a baby

Natasha smiled up at her husband; she never was able to stay mad with him for long

* * *

_Everyone Else_

"Evelyn!" "Evelyn!" Elijah and Henry shouted, bursting into her room. She put her book down and raised her eyebrows I'm a silent question

"Guess what we heard!" Elijah enthused as Henry shut the door

"What?"

"Thor and Jane are having a baby!" Henry said excitedly

Evie considered the information for a minute;  
"I don't believe you"

"It's true!" Elijah confirmed

"How do you know?"

"We were in the vents and we heard!"

"No way!" Evie was now as excited as her brothers  
"Want to know something else?!" she whispered

"What?!" the boys said in unison

"Mom and Dad are having another baby too!"

"How do you know that?!" Henry asked a little too loudly

"Shhhhhh" Elijah warned, Henry apologised before allowing his sister to continue

"I heard mom and Dad talking, but you can't tell **anyone**! They only just found out, they probably won't tell us for another few months"

"Months?! We have to keep the secret that long?!"

"What secret?" Natasha asked from the doorway. All three children jumped slightly.

Alexis started crying from the other room, Evie jumped from her bed saying "I'll get Lex Mom!" before running off

Natasha turned back to her sons who smiled mischievously at her, they both had learned that smile from Clint she was sure

"Nothing, just what Evelyn bought you for Christmas" Henry answered

"Nice try boys, but it's January..."

"Jane and Thor are having a baby!" Elijah admitted to his mother, at the exact moment Pepper appeared behind her with Jacob

"Another baby?" Jacob asked excitedly

"Nice going 'Lijah, now everyone knows!" Henry whispered to his brother  
"Yeah, but they don't know we know about Mom and Dad" Elijah responded when the others had left to discuss the news in the lounge.

* * *

The following week Darcy arrived, having taken some time off work to visit early at Jane's insistence.

Thor was so excited that he announced the news with little warning before she even got her coat off, Steve was so shocked he dropped his coffee.  
Natasha, Pepper, Evie and the twins acted as surprised as everyone else, and Evie didn't miss the way her Dad whispered something to her Mom, resulting in a glare and an elbow to the ribs.

Jacob, however, was not as subtle as the others.

"What's up Junior?" Tony asked his son, noticing how he had barely looked up from his tower of building blocks when Thor had announced the news. "Aren't you excited to have another baby cousin?"

"Yes" he answered simply

"Come on Tony, leave him to it" Pepper said. Tony did, but he suspected something wasn't right there.

"So, baby Thor makes seven! Once your baby is here they'll be more kids than Avengers living here!" Tony stated. "And that's quite enough!" he added, pointing a warning finger at the two assassins who were whispering in the corner

"Come on Tony, give them a break. They just had Alexis, they won't be in a rush for another anytime soon" Bruce defended them

Clint had never known Bruce Banner be so wrong and the thought made him laugh  
Evie, Elijah and Henry joined in, knowing the reason behind their fathers laughter

"Did I miss something?" Thor asked confused

"I think we all did" Jane answered quietly

"Anyway" Steve interrupted, having finally picked up the pieces of broken mug which had been scattered across the kitchen area  
"Congratulations!" he said to Thor and Jane, the others echoed and Thor beamed with pride.


	33. Emotional

_In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah and Henry are five, Alexis is 5 months old and Natasha is 3 months pregnant_

* * *

Bruce, Tony, Pepper and Natasha were gathered on the communal floor of the tower for breakfast. Henry soon joined them, and Oliver slept soundly in his crib.

Natasha had been silent, not joining in the conversations with the others, and had barely touched her breakfast. Pepper felt concerned for her friend; but figured she was just tired. She had four children under the age of nine; the youngest of which was just five months old, not to mention she'd recently been on three solo missions for SHIELD.

But when Henry spilled the milk all over the table (and the floor, and himself) and Natasha burst into tears; she figured it was more than just tiredness affecting her friend.

"I'm sorry mommy!"

"It's okay, it's alright. Just go get some dry clothes on, your dad is still upstairs"

Natasha moved to clear up the mess, pausing as Henry hugged her tightly on his way to their floor. She kissed him and assured him everything was okay, before he left; trailing milk to the elevator.

Pepper moved tentatively towards her friend, as Tony and Bruce silently looked on in slight bewilderment.

"Tasha, sweetie. You okay?"

"Um hum" she nodded, she was still sobbing but was gradually getting under control.

Oliver started crying from the corner and that seemed to send Natasha over the edge; sitting down at the table she wept. Tony scurried to pick up his son when Pepper glared at him. She passed a napkin (after successful finding one which wasn't covered in milk) to Natasha and sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"Overemotional?"  
She nodded.

At that moment Steve entered the floor, took one look at the rest of his team and instantly turned to leave again.

"You don't have leave Steve!" Natasha told him through sobs.

He turned once more, and awkwardly joined the two other men in the living room.  
Pepper sighed at the three men who took that to mean 'stop staring and watch TV'

"Tasha, I know you must be so tired, and looking after four kids must be hard but-"

"No Pep, you don't understand..." she took a deep breath and admitted; "Pepper. I'm pregnant. It's just... hormones. I can't stop crying"

"Again?! Don't you guys have any control?!"

Steve elbowed Tony sharply as Natasha planted her face in her hands with a defeated sigh.

"Erm, Tasha, how far along..?"

"13 weeks"

"Jeez widow. You guys really didn't waste any time!"

"Tony I swear to God..." Pepper began, but was interrupted when Clint arrived; smiling brightly until he noticed the looks everyone was giving him. Well, everyone bar his wife who purposely avoiding his gaze.

"So I guess you guys heard the good news huh?"


	34. Too Much Information

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are five, Alexis is six months old, and Natasha is four months pregnant, Jacob would be five and Oliver is nine months old_

* * *

Evie, Elijah and Henry were at school, Thor and Jane had 'borrowed' Alexis for the day, and Natasha was thankful for a day to rest.  
She'd fallen asleep on the couch after a morning filled with nausea, sickness and dizziness.

Tony and Clint had both come home for lunch; on entering the floor Tony placed a blanket over Natasha while Clint made grilled cheese sandwiches.

"So Clint, I've been thinking..."

"That never ends well"

"When's Tasha's due date again?"

"Last week of September... Why?"

"I've been doing some math..."

"Right... Okay. And..?"

"You guys get a bit carried away at the New Years Eve party?"

"Tony"

"Only, I seem to remember the whole team being up all night that night... And then me you and Steve got called out to Guatemala for ten days after that"

"Righttt..."

"So the latest baby Barton had to be conceived at that party. It's the only way the dates add up"

"You think too much"

"Well anyway, my point is; I seem to remember you and the spider disappearing for an hour"

"And?"

"And a certain locked closet..?"

Clint looked over to check Natasha was still asleep, the last thing him and Tony needed was Natasha to know they were discussing their sex life.

"Right okay, whatever; you caught us Tony. Well done. It was the first time we got some time alone since Alexis was born"

"Seriously? You were that desperate? Lexie was like, just over a month old!"

"And? Why, how long did you and Pepper wait after Oliver was born?"

"Let's just say a while"

"Seriously?"

"Clinton Francis Barton are you seriously discussing our sex life with Tony Stark?"

The two men jumped slightly

"That depends... How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough!"

"So Nat, the closet eh?" Tony winked at her

"Stark, you know I can kill you with a paperclip right?"

"Don't worry Widow; your secrets safe with me. Besides, Barton knows all about how Oliver was conceived on the floor of my lab"

"Stark; that is just too much information"

"Oh come on, you're telling me you and Pepper don't talk?"

"Oh, we talk"

The tone Natasha spoke in gave both men cause for concern.

"What- what about?"

Natasha just shrugged her shoulders, making both men more nervous.

Pepper appeared, cheerfully greeting the others and helping herself to coffee.

"Hey Pepper, we need to talk"

"Okay..?" she replied quizzically, following Natasha from the room after kissing Tony on the cheek, she noticed how Natasha completely avoided Clint, despite the fact he went to kiss her as she walked past.

"Barton, we should go hide"

"What? Why?"

"If you think Nats scary; you should see Pepper when shes angry!"

Suddenly they both heard Pepper walking back down the hallway; "Anthony Edward Stark!"


	35. Another Baby?

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are five, Alexis is seven months old and Natasha is five months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha groaned uncomfortably as the doctor prodded and pocked at her stomach

"So, Dr. Riley referred you over to us?" he said, flicking through the notes

"Yeah, she seemed concerned with the growth of the baby" Clint answered while Natasha was too busy scowling at the doctor

"Right okay, so how many weeks are you?"

"23 weeks"

"Only 23? You look bigger than i'd have expected"

"See Nat, I told you you looked big"

Natasha glared at her husband now

"Is this your first baby?"

"No, fifth" Clint answered, avoiding his wife's gaze

"Do you plan on having any more children?"

-"No"  
-"Yes"  
They answered in unison

"Right okay, let's move on..." the doctor said, sensing the tension between husband and wife. "Has anyone discussed with you the possibility of twins?"

"Excuse me?" Natasha asked, attempting to sit up awkwardly on the hospital bed

"We already have twin boys, but that was discovered at the 12 week scan"

"It's possible it could have been missed all this time; it depends on how the babies are lying. It's also possible this is a singleton pregnancy; the baby could be lay in an awkward position or there could be something else going on such as polyhydramnios, or it may just be a big baby... If you'll excuse me I'll be right back"

Clint walked back to Natasha's side as she lay back down on the bed sighing

"Clint, you really want more children?"

"Well yeah, why not?"

**"Why not?! **I'll tell you why not!"

But before she had chance the doctor reappeared

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah we're fine" Clint assured him

"So your twins, are they fraternal?

"No they're identical"

"And you have four children?"

"Well..."  
The doctor didn't say anything, just looked to Natasha, then back to Clint in order for him to continue

"We had a late term miscarriage before the twins were born; we lost our daughter when Natasha was 27 weeks pregnant"

The doctor nodded knowingly, before wheeling the ultrasound machine up to the bed

"Do you know what caused the miscarriage?"

"Yeah, it was abdominal trauma"

"And you have no problems in subsequent pregnancies?"

"No"

"That's good then. Right; let have a look at this baby!

A short while later and the doctor had confirmed it was infact one baby, not two; much to Natasha's relief, however Clint found himself a little disappointed.  
Dr. Dixson assured them that all was fine; if anything the baby was a little on the small side but that was nothing to worry.

On the drive home Clint brought up the conversation they'd dropped in the doctors office

"Tasha, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine"

"Are _we_ okay?"

"Clint, I'm sorry I snapped at you"

"I'm pretty sure I deserved it"

She smiled gratefully at him

"You wanted it to be twins didn't you?"

"I just think it'd be nice to have another baby"

"Clint you do realise I'm pregnant right?"

"I know, I just hate to think that this is the last time I ever get to see you pregnant, the last time we'll get to listen to the heartbeat, argue about finding out the sex of the baby or have to decide on a name..."

"We still need to do that"

"It's just knowing it's the last time; that's hard"

"Well maybe it won't be the last time..."

Clint looked at her hopefully

"I was just worried in there. I'm not saying we'll have another baby Clint, just that I'm not ruling it out completely. We are waiting a while tho!"

"Okay deal Clint smiled"


	36. Birthday

**In this chapter; Evie is eight, Elijah & Henry are five, Alexis in eight months old, Jacobs is four, Oliver is ten months old, Jane is nine months pregnant and Natasha is almost seven months pregnant**

* * *

It was just a few days before Jane's due date and she was starting to panic, Thor was so relaxed about everything that she felt the need to worry twice as much to compensate.  
Luckily, she had Pepper and Natasha to talk thing through with. Pepper even gave her some of Oliver's baby things now he was growing, Natasha would have given her some of Lexie's but seeing as how she was pregnant again, she thought it wise to keep hold of them.

The three women and Darcy were sat in the communal lounge of the floor while Tony ran Evie and the boys to school and Clint occupied Alexis and Oliver for a few hours.

Jane looked down to her huge stomach; she knew having a baby with a Demi-God would be hard work! But saying that, Natasha didn't look thatmuch smaller than herself, and she was just coming up to her seven month mark.

"Is labour really as bad as they make out?" Jane asked, rubbing her stomach

"No" Natasha answered, "It's worse" both her and Pepper said in unison

Jane looked momentarily terrified

Pepper laughed at her expression, before telling her; "You'll be fine Jane!"

"But surely it can't be that bad, I mean Tasha; you've been in labour three time and give birth to four kids; and you're still going to do it again. If it was so bad would anyone have more than one kid?" Darcy asked, almost absentmindedly as she sipped her coffee, she then realised the glare Natasha gave her and backed off the subject

The three women knew how worried Jane was about giving birth; mainly due to the size of her ever-growing bump. It'd been measuring big since she reached five months and looking up at her tall, broad husband she wasn't surprised. The doctor had even thought twins at one point, but no; there was just one huge baby in there!

No one could really offer her any advice on that matter; no one else had had a baby with an Asgardian before. Her friends children had all been relatively small, especially the twins, the largest so far had been Oliver who at 9 pound 12 ounces was still smaller than the baby she was expecting.

* * *

According to Thor; **all** Asgardian's were born on their due dates. That had been somewhat confusing for him when Natasha had gone into labour early with Evie, extremely early with the boys, and three weeks late with Alexis. Pepper too had been early with Oliver, though Thor was extremely happy when Jacob had been born on the correct date.

So when Jane's due date arrived Thor was extremely excited! He went to everyone's floor and woke them at 5am, somehow he managed to gather everyone on the communal floor for breakfast.

"I'm sorry, I tried to stop him" Jane told Pepper as she stifled a yawn, Oliver was asleep in her arms and Jacob had gone back to sleep on Tony's lap.

The last ones to arrive were Clint, Natasha and their kids. Evie, Elijah and Henry seemed excited, but Natasha was most definitely less than impressed;

"Thor, haven't you ever heard of letting a pregnant woman sleep?"

"No, is it a well know phrase?"

"It should be!"

"And if not, you should definitely let a pregnant assassin sleep!" Tony summed up for him. Thor nodded and apologised to Natasha, passing her a cup of tea and a plate of blueberry pancakes; she quickly forgave him.

As the day went on Thor became more and more impatient and he wouldn't let anyone leave the floor; despite the fact most of them were still wearing their pajamas and there weren't enough seats (some of the kids were napping on the sofas and Jane lay on the other, the stools were taken by Natasha, Pepper, Darcy and Tony who had Jacob on his knee, which left the others standing, or in Clint's case; sat on the floor)

"Come on baby, don't you want to meet your family?" Thor asked Jane's stomach quietly

"Thor, I really think you ought to let everyone leave. Holding them hostage isn't going to do anything to bring on labour"

Thor finally relented and let everyone leave; once everyone was gone he helped Jane stand;

"I really thought it'd be today" he admitted to her, she smiled fondly and stroked his cheek;

"It'll be soon Thor, and when your son or daughter is born; you won't care whether they were born today or tomorrow or next week, because that'll be their birthday"

"You're right Jane. Our baby is of Midgard and of Asgard, I guess we'll never know what to expect"

Jane smiled brightly and reached up to kiss him, but as she did she felt her waters go

"Oh, Thor; you were right! We need to go to the hospital now"

He smiled brightly, a smile filled with more joy than Jane had ever seen

"JARVIS! Please inform the others it is time. The baby is on its way"

* * *

Several hours later, at 10.10pm Jane and Thor had a baby boy. He was blond haired and blue eyes like his dad, and he was absolutely perfect.

Jane thought back to her conversation with Natasha earlier that day; the nine months of nausea and sickness, restless nights, backache and discomfort, having no control of your emotions and mood, followed by hours and hours of painful contractions and intense labour; it was all forgotten the moment she saw her son.

Suddenly it all seemed worth it.

Thor was so excited, he ushered everyone into their hospital room to meet his son; 'my little warrior' he called him.

"Can I hold him?" Evie asked

Jane agreed, knowing how good the young girl was with her younger siblings and cousins. The baby stared at her with big blue eyes and gripped her finger tightly, she smiled proudly as her brothers crowded round her to peer at him.

"What's he called?" Pepper asked from the corner of the room, Oliver once again asleep in her arms

"Emmett; Emmett William Odinson" Jane told her proudly (It had taken two months to explain to Thor the way surnames worked on Midgard, and several more months to convince him to chose names which weren't completely way out there weird, Clint had given him a book of baby names to help Jane out and he'd finally chosen Emmett. Jane had chosen William after her dad)

Emmett was passed from person to person, never once making a fuss of being disturbed. Natasha struggled slightly with the baby in her arms; he was a large baby, and she herself had a large bump in the way, but Emmett was quite nonetheless, clutching at the material of her top as he fell back to sleep. Even Jacob had a cuddle, exclaiming baby Emmett as 'his baby'

Tony, Pepper, Clint and Natasha left first, needing to get the kids home and in bed; it had been a long day. Bruce excused himself next, followed by Steve; leaving the family of three alone

"I am so proud of you" Thor told Jane, watching her in amazement as she cradled their infant son

"I love you Thor" Jane told him tiredly, handing him his son and nodding off to sleep

"I love you too Jane" he whispered, gazing down at his son.


	37. Standoff

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are five, Alexis is eight months old, and Natasha is six months pregnant, Jacob would be five and Oliver would be 11 months old_

* * *

Clint, Tony, Thor, Bruce and Steve had been called into Fury's office on the helicarrier, interrupting their scheduled training with Coulson due to an emergency situation.

"Some moron had decided to set himself up with a sniper rifle in the Manhattan mall" Fury explained.  
This 'moron' was demanding the government closes the Manhattan Mall, and all the malls across America in the fight against consumerism.

"Local police and FBI have been called in and have managed to evacuate most of the mall, but the guy's still in there with about 25 hostages and he's threatening to shoot one every few minutes until his demands are met"

"He's deranged"

"I think I covered that with 'moron' Stark"

"Yeah, well... I was just reiterating it"

"We need to get in there before he starts shooting, he's been in there 20 minutes already so we need to mobalise and strike. We don't want any casualties here. So heres the-"

Clint's phone began ringing, and Fury stopped his speech, turned and faced him. Eyebrow raised; almost challenging him to take the call, and to Fury's surprise, Clint did.

"Tasha? I'm just in a meeting with Fury. We've got a mission; some psycho at the mall..."

"Clint, I know"

"What do you mean? How do you-"

"We're here; at the mall"

"Who's we?"

"Me and Pepper; the kids are with Darcy... Clint, this guy-"

Clint heard shots fired down the line before it went dead;  
"Tasha! Tasha! Dammit!"

"Agent Barton?"

"Tasha and Pepper are at the mall, they're caught up in this whole mess"

Clint kicked his chair across the room; but it did little to make him feel better.

Agent Hill arrived; "Director Fury you may want to see this" she flicked on the TV and selected the news channel; it was covering the situation:

"The latest development here at the Manhattan Mall Standoff; we've just been informed that shots have been fired inside the mall, we have no confirmation yet but it is suspected at least one of the hostages has been hit. Police and FBI agents are working to try and talk down the sniper, but so far negotiations have been unsuccessful. Rumors are circulating that The Avengers have been called in to try and deal with the situation but they have yet to make an appearance..."

"Have we got access to the security footage in there?" Steve asked, watching Clint carefully as he paced back and forth, kicking another chair in rage.

"No, all security footage to that section of the mall has been cut. We're blind on this one"

* * *

Pepper looked around in horror; an elder man across the room fell first; a shot to the leg. Next a woman was on the floor; bleeding from a shot to her abdomen. Everything seemed to go into slow motion, her vision was blurred as the adrenalin pumped through her system.  
Suddenly. everything snapped sharply into focus as she turned and saw Natasha go down; a bullet wound in the shoulder.

"Fury why the hell are you stalling? You said you wanted us in there pronto!"

"The situation has changed Captain Rogers"

"Exactly, we've got people in there, shouldn't we be acting even more quickly now?"

"Rogers, I want Romanoff and Potts safe as much as you do, but we can't rush this. There are over 20 other hostages held in there and we need to ensure their safety"

"He's already opened fire Sir; we need to get in there!"

"Rogers I said no! We're working on getting the surveillance footage up. We need to make sure there's not more than one hostile"

As much as Clint hated Fury right now; he knew he was right. The rapid fire shots meant there was either more than one sniper in there or he had an automatic weapon. The fact that he had fired at all changed the profile; no one had truly believed a man against consumerism would really hurt anyone.

The news reporter went on;  
"We've had confirmation that three of the hostages have been injured but not killed. The three gunmen used sniper rifles to take down their targets from a vantage point on the upper floor of the mall food court. The 'leader' of the men announced to the hostages that these were three warning shots; the next shots will kill. He promised to keep shooting hostages until he is listened to..."

"Where the hell are they getting their information from?" Tony asked. While Clint had taken to rage to express his emotions, Tony had sat silently in his seat; leaning his head in his hands, eyes closed and rubbing his temples.

"Hill, see if you can find their source!"

"Right away sir"

Clint re-entered the room; "Tony, I spoke with Darcy. She's got Oliver and Jacob too. She's taken the six of them to Jane's lab"

"Is she okay to keep them occupied til we get this whole mess sorted?"

"Yeah, her and Jane are going to take them out for dinner; they're already getting suspicious as to why Nat and Pepper haven't picked them up. Evie is asking a lot of questions"

"Are they going to tell her what's going on?"

"No, I told them not too. Evie can't keep secrets and I don't want the younger ones panicking"

"Good, I don't want Jacob to know about this"

"Sir, the press' source is one of the hostages; a kid. He's hidden under one of the tables. His mom is one of the victims"

"They still got an open connection?"

"Yeah"

"Get me on the phone with him!"

* * *

"Oh my God, Tasha!"

"I'm fine Pepper, I just need you to see if it was a through and through"  
Pepper hesitated; there was so much blood. But she helped Natasha sit up slightly, finding the exit wound in her back; Natasha grimaced in pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, I've had worse"

"You've never been shot and pregnant at the same time Nat"

"No, true"

A second later another shot sounded; and a man in a business suit collapsed to the ground, a single shot through the head.

"Your government better hurry up and listen to us, we're running out of patience!"

"Okay; here's what we got from the kid; three went down from the first wave of 'warning shots'; his mom, an elderly man, and a pregnant woman"

"Wait what?!"

"Clint I-"

"You gotta let me in there"

"There's no guarantee it was her Barton"

"Oh come on! Its Nat; of course it was her!"

"Barton sit down. We're still coming up with a plan and I need you level headed and thinking straight"

"With all due respect Director Fury; it's his wife and baby in there, and Tony's wife. Our teammate and our friends; would you be level headed?" Bruce said from his corner.

Fury nodded at the mans comment;  
"Agent Barton, Mister Stark; I am sorry, I truly am. But we need to work this out to minimise casualties and make sure we get this right. So as I was saying; three warning shots, these three victims are all still very much alive, the first kill shot was fired a few minutes ago; a middle aged man was murdered. They're getting angsty and impatient. We're still trying for video feed, and we've got schematics of the building coming in now"

A blond woman crawled over to where Natasha and Pepper were sat; she was a nurse named Jenny and offered her help. Pepper was trying to stem the bleeding but there was just so much blood, she was thankful for someone coming to lend a hand; everyone else seemed too terrified to move.

"I think he hit your axillary artery"

"Is that bad?" Pepper asked

"It's not good"

Natasha took a sharp intake of breath and winced in pain, though it was not her shoulder which was bothering her.

"Oh Tasha, please tell me you're not in labour!"

* * *

"You can't be in labour! You're not even seven months yet!"

"You're only six months?" Jenny asked, not hiding the worry in her voice.

Natasha nodded, too preoccupied with breathing through the pain to answer.

"She's almost 27 weeks"

"Damn it that's far too early! We really need to get you to hospital; an injection of terbutaline or magnesium sulphate can stop pre-term labor. We need to get your shoulder looked at too, you shouldn't be losing this much blood"

Six more shots were fired as Natasha tensed through another contraction, and Jenny dropped dead beside her.

"There have been six more casualties, and no Stark, I don't know who. But we're going in. Everyone suit up; I can't believe I'm saying this but we're using Starks plan"

The five members of the team boarded the quinjet, along with Hill, Coulson and a full medical team. Clint would normally have flown but he was too anxious, there was no way he would delay reaching Natasha by strapping himself into the pilot seat.

It wasn't a long flight, and before they knew it the quinjet hovered silently above the glass dome roof of the food hall where they hostages were held. Tony was to break the glass with his repulse while Clint, Steve and Thor repelled down and took out the hostiles with tranq darts before they knew what hit them. Bruce was to stay aboard the jet unless the plan went terribly wrong.

Natasha was starting to slip in and out of consciousness, she'd lost too much blood and Pepper was struggling to keep her awake. The only thing that seemed to snap her back to alertness was the searing pain of her contractions; which were getting closer together and more intense as time went on.

By now the two other victims hit with warning shots had bled out; nine of the hostages were now dead and the gunmen showed no signs of giving up anytime soon.

Natasha looked at Pepper, struggling to keep her eyes open when something in her expression changed. Every ounce of strength she had left she used to pull Pepper down; the red target light of a sniper rifle had been aimed at her head. Three more shots were fired, but only two hit their targets.

* * *

The team heard another three shots fired and decided it was time.  
One blast from Tony's repulsor beam and the glass dome shattered, a second later and Thor, Clint and Steve had all taken down their targets; Clint and Steve with tranq guns, Thor had improvised and knocked his out with a small lightening blast.

Tony landed in the middle of the food hall; he counted 11 dead and breathed a sigh of relief when Pepper wasn't one of them.

Natasha remained conscious just long enough to see Clint running towards her before she passed out completely.

Tears streamed Pepper's face in relief as Tony took her into his arms. Steve held the boy who'd talked them through what was happening on the phone as he cried for his mother. The police swarmed the building; evacuating the remaining hostages, while SHILED personnel collected the gunmen.

This whole standoff had been a mess, it had been handled badly and escalated rapidly. The cause the men stood for had been completely disproportional to their actions and this made everyone extremely angry.

Three days later Natasha woke in the infirmary at SHIELD HQ; she hated it there. It smelled of disinfectant and everything was too bright.  
Clint was by her side, asleep in the arm chair they'd moved in here several years before; when this had become Clint and Natasha's usual room. Alexis slept in his arms. Henry was sprawled across the foot of her bed; his blond hair covering his face. Elijah and Evie were cramped onto another chair on the other side of her bed; Evie's arm wrapped over her younger brothers shoulders, hugging him tightly, her other hand gripped Natasha's own.

The baby moved and gave strong kick. She went to move her arm to place her hand on her stomach and found she couldn't; it was in a sling; kept firmly in place against her chest.

There was a gentle knock at the door and Pepper peered her head round the door, clutching a coffee in her hand.

"Hey you're awake"

"How long-"

"Three days"

"Wow, must have been some pretty good blood loss"

"Yeah, you had us all worried!"

Natasha wasn't really sure how to respond, she'd been worried herself. Her baby had been at risk and that was not something she was used to.

"The baby-"

"They baby's fine Nat, the labor stopped progressing when you passed out, the doctors have been monitoring you and they baby; it's all fine"

Clint slowly stirred from his sleep

"Anyway, I'll see you later" Pepper placed the cup down next to Clint and turned to leave, "By the way, thanks" she added with a grateful smile.

"Thanks for what?" Natasha asked, somewhat confused. Her memory of the events leading up to her stay on the medical wing was somewhat cloudy

"You saved my life" Pepper answered

"Ditto" Natasha smiled back.


	38. Tired Isn't Even The Word

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are six, Alexis is nine months old and Natasha is seven months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha clutched at her swollen abdomen as the baby kicked forcefully at her ribs.  
She could hear Alexis wailing from the other room, Evie and Henry arguing in the kitchen, and Elijah shouting her from his room. Clint was away on an urgent mission for SHIELD; leaving a heavily pregnant Natasha to take of their four children; one of whom was teething, and one who was home from school ill.

She heard a loud crash and shattering of glass from the kitchen, and Elijah shouting that he'd just been sick. She felt the baby give another enormous kick to her ribs, so painfully that she had to sit down for a moment. Evie ran in at that moment, jam in her hair, complaining about the bad table manners of her younger brother.

Henry appeared at her side;

"Mom it's not fair, I don't want to go to school! Elijah gets to stay home!"

"Henry, I'm not having this discussion again. Elijah is ill, now go get dressed please!"

Natasha forced herself to her feet, with some difficulty, and started clearing up Evie's hair.

"MOM!" Elijah yelled.

Alexis was still crying in her crib, the poor girl was teething and had kept Natasha up most of the night.  
There and then, just as the baby aimed another agonising kick which made her wince in pain, Natasha decided she was never having sex with Clint Barton ever again!

Evie seemingly took pity on her mother and went to pick up Alexis, giving her some Tylenol, and settling her into her chair. Natasha smiled gratefully at her eldest child; sometimes Evie seemed so much older than her mere nine years.

Now Alexis was settled, and Henry was getting ready for school, even if he was stalling somewhat, she turned her attention to Elijah.  
Stoking his sweaty hair from his face, Natasha placed a damp cloth on his forehead. He had been running a temperature all yesterday and the vomiting had started in the night. She silently cursed Clint for being away while two of their kids were having restless nights. Natasha herself was exhausted on the best of days; being almost eight months pregnant with an extremely active baby wasn't doing her any favours in the sleep department.

There was a knock at the door which Henry ran to answer, wearing nothing but his underpants and mismatched socks.

"Hi Uncle Steve!"

"Hey Buddy! Why aren't you dressed yet?"

"I don't want to go to school today" he said sadly

"And whys that?"

"Elijah is staying home"

"But Henry, Elijah is ill. Wouldn't you rather be at school with your friends than in bed ill?"

"Yeah I guess"

"And it's Tuesday! You have sports on Tuesdays, that's still your favourite right?"

"Yeah"

"So go get dressed quick!"

Henry turned to run back to his room with a renewed excitement.  
Natasha mouthed a grateful 'thank you' from the door of Elijah's room as she closed the door, her ill son now asleep after having some Tylenol of his own.  
Steve walked over to her, concern plastered all over his face as he took in her exhausted appearance.  
He took her in his arms, hugging her comfortingly and placing a gentle kiss on her head.

"Would you like me to take Evie and Henry to school?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. You look dead on your feet Nat, get some rest"

"Yeah like that's going to happen..." and at that moment Alexis burst into tears once more.  
Steve offered an apologetic smile at her as Henry reappeared in the room.  
Natasha kissed Evie and Henry goodbye, and thanked Steve again as he left to take them to school.

She rocked Alexis back and forth, which was made extremely difficult by her swollen abdomen. Again she found herself cursing Clint. She loved her children more than anything in the world, more than she ever thought she could love anyone. But this was not the life she envisioned herself with; Clint was great with the kids, especially the boys, but when he was away on missions Natasha felt somewhat alone. Occasionally, she too went on missions, leaving Clint alone with the kids, but it had been so long; between being pregnant with Alexis, her maternity leave, and falling almost instantly pregnant again (damn Clint!) she'd only been on one or two minor missions, it felt like such a long time since she'd been on a proper mission and she missed it.

Her morning was spent split between soothing Alexis and comforting Elijah. By 12.30 when the school called to say that Henry was now ill too she was ready to give up. She needed to pick him up, but she couldn't leave Elijah and Alexis alone, and she really didn't fancy dragging them both out of bed and all the way to the school. Tony was in his labs, Natasha hated to interrupt his work, and everyone else was out.

Tony ventured up to Clint and Natasha's floor after Steve expressed his concerns about her over breakfast on returning from the school run. He'd left her alone for the better part of the morning hoping she'd manage to get some rest but thought it was about time to check she and the kids were okay. He entered silently and found her sat cross legged on the floor, head in her hands, looking absolutely defeated.

"What's up Widow?"

"I'm fairly certain I haven't slept since before Alexis was born"

"Ah. You know there's a simple solution here; stop sleeping with Barton!"

"Trust me, i will! But that doesn't help me in the meantime"

"Can I help?"

Natasha looked up at him from her position on the floor, somewhat in surprise. Tony loved the kids, but normally settled being the uncle who played with them, gave them too much spending money and let them stay up late if they promised not to tell their parents, he wasn't the one who normally involved himself in the more 'trivial' aspects of parenting.  
He seemed to read the surprise in her face and wore an expression of mock hurt. She laughed and held out her hands so he could help her to her feet.

It was decided Tony would go and get Henry while Natasha resettled Alexis and Elijah, Tony would then stay in the apartment so Natasha could get some sleep before Tony went to collect Evie at 4.30 after her ballet lesson.

"Nat, before I go, can I ask you something?"

"What is it Tony?"

"If I hadn't have come up here, how were you planning on getting off the floor?"

He smiled his mischievous grin at her before darting from the room, narrowly avoiding the pillow Natasha had flung at his head.  
She laughed to herself quietly thinking of Tony Stark; when Evie had first been born he'd avoided holding her for weeks, content just to pull faces at her and have her grip his finger while other people cradled and rocked her. He'd admitted later that he'd been scared, but now nine years later he was a fantastic uncle to their kids and she honestly didn't know what her and Clint would do without him, and the other members of their team.


	39. Baby Names

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are six and Alexis is 10 months old, and Natasha is eight months pregnant_

* * *

Natasha paced back and forth, rubbing her lower back as she and Clint discussed the possible names for their baby.  
Clint sat on the end of their bed, watching her awkwardly. He wanted to help her, offer her some support, but he knew she was hormonal and snappy, and judging by the bruise on Tony's jaw; she was not past punching.

"Clint. No. We're not calling this baby Anthony"

"Why?"

"Stark's head is big enough. I'm not naming my child after him"

"But Tasha..."

"Clint, seriously?"

"But he saved my life last week!"

"So. He's saved your life hundreds of times, just as you've saved him. What's the real reason?"

"I lost a bet..."

Natasha sighed, half at her husband's stupidity, half in discomfort. This was most definitely the last time she was doing this; they already had four children, five was where she drew the line.

"I am not naming my child after Tony Stark. Besides, we don't even know whether it's a boy"

"I think we're having a boy"

"And why is that exactly?"

"You're moodier than when you were pregnant with Evie and Alexis; like when you were pregnant with the twins"

"Moodier?" Natasha asked with raised eyebrows

"No. Not moodier... Just, erm, sort of... more sensitive? Maybe... Is that better?"

Natasha would have made him suffer for that comment but a sharp pain in her ribs stopped her though process. She winced and leaned over slightly. Clint was by her side in a second; panic written all over his face.

"I'm fine Clint, it was just a kick; a really strong kick"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Clint, It's fine. I'm not due for another two weeks"

"I know, I just... worry"

She smiled up at him, but winced again when the baby aimed another forceful kick at her ribs.

"Sit down"

"Clint I'm fine"

"I know. Sit down anyway"  
She sighed but allowed Clint to lead her to the edge of the bed. Sitting down heavily, before Clint sat beside her; he stroked her back gently in a calming motion before restarting their discussion;

"How about Anthony as a middle name?"

"Fine, but you have to be the one to explain to our future child that you named him that because of a lost bet"

"Deal"

"Clint, what if we have a girl?"

"We're not having a girl?"

"You don't know that"

"Yes I do"

"How"

"We had a girl last time"

"Clint, that's not really how this whole thing works..."

"I know that Nat, this just feels different"

When she inhaled sharply, rubbing her stomach as the baby kicked once more; Clint raised his eyebrows.

"You think because the baby kicks a lot that automatically makes it a boy?"

"Yeah... I mean no!"

"Clint Barton, are you really trying to tell me that boys kick better than girls? Because I will beat you right now. Regardless of how big and pregnant I am!"

"I know Nat, I'm, sorry" he said, smiling fondly and moving the hair from her face. He kissed her neck before moving down her jaw line, stopping when he heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.

"Evelyn what are you doing up?" Clint asked his daughter, looking at the clock confirming it was way past her bedtime

"Did you name the baby yet?"

"No not yet"

"Me, Henry and Elijah have an idea for you"

"Oh you do, do you?"

"Yeah, we all agreed. If it's a boy we wanted to name him after Uncle Tony"

Natasha sighed; "How much did your Uncle Tony pay you to say that?"

"$10 each"

"конфетка, we're not naming the baby after Tony" (Sweetie)

"Okay... If it's a girl, we wanted to name her Cecelia"

"Why'd you chose that baby girl?" Clint asked, considering it

"It's from the book mom reads us. It's our favourite book"

"We'll think about it, okay. But Evie it's late and you have school tomorrow"

"Okay dad; goodnight. Night mom!"

"Goodnight sweetheart"

Natasha raised her eyebrows; a silent question to her husband.

"I like it" he answered with a smile, taking Natasha in his arms once again.  
"But I still think we're having a boy..."


	40. Reassurance

_In this fic; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are six, Alexis is eleven months old, Cecelia is two weeks, Jacob would be five and Oliver is one_

* * *

"Tasha, I need to talk to you!"

"Pepper, you rang me at 3am?! This better be important"

"Is Clint awake?"

"No, why?"

"Good, meet me on the communal floor?"

"Pep, it's 3am, Cecelia is going to be up for a feed in like an hour, can't it wait til then?"

"Please Nat?"

"Alright, give me five minutes"

* * *

"So Pepper, what's so urgent?"

"Tasha, I need you to go to the doctors for me"

"Why?"

"I need you to find out if I'm pregnant"

"What? Pepper, you're gonna have to start from the beginning"

"I might be pregnant"

"Might be?"

"I did a test and it was positive, but then I did another and it was negative, I need to know for sure before I mention it to Tony"

"And I come in where?"

"I can't go to the doctors in case Tony finds out, so I need you to go"

"And what if Clint finds out?"

"You just tell him it's negative"

"Why can't you just do that?"

"Because if Tony gets the idea in his head he'll want another child; Tasha I can't have another baby, i'm not ready"

"Pepper, Clint is already obsessing on the idea; we already have five kid, and Cecelia is just two weeks old! I can't afford to encourage that train of thought"

"Dammit"

"Sorry Pep"

"No, you're right. I'm sorry Nat"

"Pep, you really don't want another baby?"

"Not right now, I'm just so busy. And Tony is never here. Jacob is finally settling in at school, and Oliver has started walking. I don't feel like I get to spend enough time with them, and I miss spending time with your kids too, I just can't find time for a baby in my life right now"

"What about Tony?"

"Tony wants a girl, he loves your girls so much! He'd never admit it but he's always wanted a daughter"

"Couldn't you ask Bruce to run a test in the lab? No records, no trips to the doctors..."

"I guess I could ask, I just really don't want Tony to find out until I know..."

"Pep, if you were pregnant, what would you do?"

"I don't know Nat"

* * *

The next morning Natasha helped Pepper convince Tony to do the school run with Clint so the two women could corner Bruce in the lab without interruption.

Hesitantly he agreed to run the test and not to tell Tony.  
Printing out the results he handed them to Pepper and left her to look at them in private.

"You want me to leave?" Natasha asked

"No, can you read them?"

"Right okay... Pep, it's negative... You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine"

"You sure? You're not even a little disappointed?"

"No. No it's okay, it's better this way. Come on, let's go"

"You going to speak to Tony?"

"I don't think so; there's no need"

"Okay Pepper, but I really think you should, he'd understand. And it'd make you feel better"

"I'll think about it, now let's go get some vodka!"

"Pepper, it's 8.30 in the morning"

"Oh yeah. Damn"

* * *

That night Tony found Pepper sat alone on an empty floor of the tower (with a little help from JARVIS)

"Pep, whatcha doing?"

"Just thinking"

"About..?"

"Tony, do you really want a daughter?"

"Pepper, what's this about?"

"I thought I was pregnant for a while... I'm not; but it terrified me. I'm not ready to be a mom again Tony"

"Pepper, I don't need any more kids to be happy. We have two fantastic sons, and I have the greatest wife in the world. If we want a daughter we'll borrow one of Romanoff's and give them back when we've had enough" he smiled, taking his wife in his arms feeling like the luckiest man in the world.


	41. A Change of Heart

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are six, Alexis is one, Cecelia is six weeks old, Jacob would be five and Oliver is one_

* * *

Pepper looked down at the tiny red-headed girl snuggled up, sleeping in her arms and sighed. She looked so perfect lay there; her pouting lips and rosy cheeks, the way her arms hung limply at her side as she dreamed.  
Pepper and Tony had ended up looking after Cecelia for a few days when the boys had come home from school with chicken pox, Alexis had caught it next and then Evie had become ill.

"Tony, I've changed my mind" Pepper told him as he changed Oliver's diaper next to her

"Sorry Pepper no can do. Those wedding vows are concrete" he joked, waving his wedding ring at her

"No not about that! I know I'm stuck with you!" she laughed

"What about then Pepper?" he asked, sliding onto the sofa next to her and watching as Oliver crawled off to join his brother

"I think I want another baby"

Tony took Cecelia from Pepper suddenly; "Oh no, she's toxic; it's infected you! We need to get this thing back to Romanoff as soon as possible" he joked once more, gauging her reaction. Tony had wanted another baby since Oliver was born, but Pepper had decided she didn't want any more and he'd accepted that. The last thing he wanted to do was get his hopes up for Pepper to change her mind once more.

"Tony!" she laughed, taking the baby back again and resettling her in her arms as she began to stir in her sleep

"Are you sure Pepper, it's not just because littlest Barton is here? You're not going to change your mind again?"

"I'm sure" she smiled at him brightly, reading the joy in his face at her words.


	42. Family Tree

_In this chapter; Evie is nine, Elijah and Henry are six, Alexis is 1 and Cecelia is 2 months old_

* * *

Natasha went to the spa with Pepper; it was her first day without the kids since Cecelia was born 2 months previously; she deserved a break. Clint stayed home with their youngest two children while the others were at school, using his rare day off work to tidy their floor of the tower; having five children didn't always complement maintaining a tidy living space.

Exhausted after a busy morning, he took Alexis and Cecelia to the park before collecting the boys and Evie from school. Henry and Elijah were there usual talkative selves; barely pausing for breath between stories, Evie however was unusually quite.

"Hey Eve, what's up?"

"Nothing"

"You sure? Something happen at school?"

"No, everything's fine" she sighed and dramatically planted her chin on her hands, turning to stare out the window as the twins started up another discussion.  
Clint turned back to concentrate on the road and nodded to his sons as they talked. Evelyn was so like her mom; he knew not to push her, she'd talk when she was ready.

* * *

Later that night after they'd eaten dinner with the whole team, when Alexis and Cecelia were asleep and the twins were busy messing up their newly tidied rooms (must to Clints dismay), Evie climbed on the sofa; forcing herself between her parents.

"Mom, Dad, can I talk to you?"

Clint looked over her head to Natasha and raised his eyebrows; he'd warned her earlier that this would be coming.

"Sure sweetie, what is it?" Natasha asked, stroking her cheek.

"I have some homework and I don't know what to do... I have to do a family tree. We're supposed to trace back to our great grandparents, and write about our parents, grandparents and great grandparents lives..." Evie looked down at her intertwined hands, fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.

"Oh" Clint said, making eye contact once again with Natasha

"I didn't want to ask you. But I don't know what else to do. Everyone else in my class has done theirs" she said sadly. Evie, although only nine, was very aware of her parents pasts, she didn't know the details or specifics, but she knew they both had painful pasts neither liked to discuss. She never brought it up unless she had to, and she'd clearly been avoiding this conversation.

Natasha looked uneasily at Clint, hearing the sorrow in her daughters voice filled her with guilt. Their children knew they didn't exactly have a normal family, and most of the time it didn't bother them, however, occasionally it did; last year Clint had been away on a mission and missed the father/son soccer match, Henry had been devastated; at least until Tony had stepped in. When Natasha had been hospitalised after being shot and missed Evie's dance recital, Evie had refused to perform; Pepper managed to convince her to go on just in time for her solo and recorded the whole thing so she could show Natasha the next day in hospital. Mostly her and Clint made parents evenings and piano concerts, sports events and science fares. They always made it home for birthdays and Christmas, but when they couldn't be there; there was always someone to step in.

"Well how about you do a different kind of family tree; you can write about your uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper, Uncle Thor and Aunt Jane, Uncle Steve, Uncle Bruce... Your dad and I can help, and we'll write a letter to your teacher and explain why you couldn't do it the other way?"

"But Tony and Steve and everyone, they're not my real family" she whispered the word 'real', almost feeling guilty to say it.

"Evelyn, sweetheart" Natasha said gently, taking her daughters face in her hands, "There is more than one kind of family"


	43. Distraction

_In this chapter; Evie is 10, Elijah & Henry are six, Alexis is two and Cecelia is one_

* * *

"Daddy can I have a cookie please?"

"I've already told you Henry, no. Dinner will be ready in a minute" Clint said, stirring several pots on the stove

"Dad, it's Elijah!"

"Oh, sorry buddy" Clint said, finally looking up from the stove "you can have cookies after dinner okay?"

"Alright" he sighed before running off

Two minutes later Alexis entered the kitchen and burst into tears, Clint was a little taken aback, he already had his hands full.  
The stove timer was beeping, the potatoes were boiling over, the sauce needed stirring, and he was trying to get Evie to sit still so he could give her the eye drops she needed to treat the eye infection she had. It was not an easy task, she hated them and was trying desperately to avoid having them done.

"Tasha?! Natasha?" he shouted,trying to get some back up, but she was busy elsewhere in the tower with Cecelia

He switched the stove off and gave up on the eye drops for now, scooped Alexis up and sat her on the counter top.

"What's up Lex?"  
She continued to cry...

"Come on Lexie, what's the matter?"  
Still no answer...

"Alexis why are you crying? Tell Daddy?"  
This went on for several minutes, Clint had checked her over, she wasn't injured, she didn't want anything, and she hadn't been told off; there was no reason Clint could see why she would be crying...

Natasha entered the kitchen at that point, carrying a freshly bathed Cecelia

"What's going on?" she asked Clint

"I don't know, she just won't stop crying"

"I can't believe you fell for that!"

"Fell for what?"

"Alexis Kathryn Barton is that Henry's Buzz Lightyear toy?"

"No. Mine!" she said stubbornly, hugging the toy tightly

Natasha raised her eyebrows and signaled for Clint to follow her.  
Picking up a now content and quiet Alexis, he followed his wife down the hallway to the boy's room. Pushing the door open he saw his two mischievous sons making their way quickly through a pack of oreos.

"How did you-" Clint began, before Alexis stated "Hey don't eat them all! You owe me some!"

"How did you know?" Clint asked Natasha

"They pulled the same trick on me last week"


	44. On Hold

_In this chapter; Evie is 10, Elijah and Henry are seven, Alexis is two and Cecelia is one_

* * *

"Lo?"

"Erm, who is this?"

"Lexie. Who you?"

"Alexis? Is your mom or dad there?"

"Da"

"Could you put one of them on the phone?"

"Lease!"

"Please?"

"A minute"

Fury heard Alexis put the phone down (rather loudly) on the table and run off. While he waited he heard various conversations in the background:

* * *

"Evelyn Irina Barton you're going to be late! Go get dressed before you miss the bus!" (Clint)

* * *

"Henry give me back my Iron Man!" (Elijah)

"It's not yours it's mine!" (Henry)

"No it's not!" (Elijah)

"Yes it is!" (Henry)

"You broke yours last week!" (Elijah)

"Did not!" (Henry)

"Did too!" (Elijah)

* * *

"Clint, have you seen my car keys?" (Natasha)

"Lexie had them" (Clint)

"Damn!" (Natasha)

* * *

"Mom, Dad; I need some lunch money!" (Evie)

* * *

"I can't find my shoes!" (Henry)

* * *

"Mom! Cecelia spilled her cereal!" (Elijah)

* * *

"Tasha, can you please do my tie?" (Clint)

"You know you're really going to have to learn to do these one day..." (Natasha)

* * *

"The school bus is here!" (Clint)

"But I need to go to the bathroom!" (Elijah)

* * *

Finally, Fury had had enough.

Just as Evie, Elijah and Henry filed out the door, as Natasha was wiping spilled milk and cereal from the table, holding a soaking and sticky Cecelia in her arms, JARVIS announced;

"Agents Romanoff and Barton, Director Fury would like you to know that he's on the phone"

The two of them exchanged somewhat confused glances, as Alexis appeared round the corner smiling sweetly up at her parents.


	45. Arts & Crafts

_In this chapter; Evie is ten, Elijah and Henry are seven, Alexis is two, Cecelia is one, Jacob is six and Oliver is two_

* * *

Pepper was watching all seven of the kids while the Avengers tried to explain to Director Fury why the Manhattan Bridge was now in two halves following the latest alien attack on New York.

She'd manage to occupy them all morning by taking them to the park, but in the afternoon it had started raining and she'd been forced to take them back to the tower.

Seven children were not easy to occupy!

After food and a film she resorted to arts and crafts.  
She covered the table and the floor in newspapers, put aprons on the children and crossed her fingers.

To be fair; all of the children were well behaved; Evie helped Alexis put glitter on her painting of a flower, Elijah helped Jacob draw round his hands and color in his picture, Henry and Oliver worked together on a picture of The Hulk, while Cecelia mostly sat and watched the others.

Pepper supervised from a distance; mainly allowing the older kids to watch the younger ones. Watching her sons play with Clint and Natasha's children she smiled; Jacob was doing so well, largely thanks to the support of his cousins, and Oliver was hopefully going to turn out like his cousins too (and not too much like his father!)

Her phone suddenly rang; hoping it would be Tony or Natasha informing her they were done at SHEILD and were on their way back, she rushed to answer it. Regretting it instantly when it turned out to be Richard Regal; an investor in SI who had rung to discuss what he called 'important financial matters', Pepper called them 'a huge waste of time'. However his generous donations to SI made him a necessity, which meant Pepper had to oblige...

She went to the hallway to take the conversation somewhere she could concentrate, shortly later she wished she hadn't.

She returned to utter chaos; Elijah had emptied a pot of glitter over Evie who wore most of it in her hair, she'd thrown several back at him; ans these were now spilt and scattered about the table and the floor. Evie had used the paints to paint whiskers and a cats nose on Cecelia, and Oliver and Alexis had taken to finger painting the wall. Henry had taken off his top and was redecorating it with his own design in paint while Jacob happily rubbed paint into his hair.

Pepper stood in disbelief at the mess that had been caused during her rushed five minute conversation with Regal.

"Ot oh" was all Jacob said when he realised his mother was watching them

"Ot oh indeed! What do you think you're doing?"

At that moment the elevator opened and Natasha strode in; "Pepper, I hope you don't mind; Tony and the others have gone- What on earth happened?"

The kids all stared in silence at their moms who stood, equally silent, waiting for an answer. Eventually Evie stood, and walked up to Pepper; "I made you this" and she handed over a painting of a large pink heart, inside she'd written; _'I love you aunty Pepper, Love from Evie xxx'_


	46. Restless

_In this chapter; Evie is eleven, Elijah and Henry are seven, Alexis is three and Cecelia is two_

* * *

One morning at 3am; both Natasha and Clint were woken suddenly when they heard Alexis screaming from down the hall.

Once they reached her room they found her thrashing and screaming in bed, still fast asleep. It took them several minutes to wake her, and once they had she clung to Natasha tightly, still shaken from whatever nightmare had woke her.

Clint went to resettle the other children who had also been woken by their sisters nightmares, while Natasha tried to calm down Alexis who was still crying and clinging to her mother.  
Natasha scooped her daughter up, carrying her down the hallway to her room while rocking her gently. Alexis settled quickly in the middle of her parents bed, still clutching Natasha firmly. Both of them were asleep by the time Clint returned and climbed into bed next to them.

* * *

The next night Alexis woke screaming again, this time Natasha resettled her in her own bed, before she woke again an hour later. This became a nightly occurrence, and although Alexis seemed fine the following mornings, no memory of the night before; the lack of sleep for her parent soon started to show.

* * *

Alexis hadn't slept through the night in over four weeks.

Generally, Clint and Natasha took it in turns to spend the night in Alexis' room with her, allowing the other to try and get some sleep. It had gotten to the point where she wouldn't sleep alone; too scared to be left by herself in a dark room.

* * *

When Clint fell asleep in a meeting between Director Fury and the avengers, and when Natasha had taken to skipping meals in order to catch half an hour to nap; the other members of the team stepped up to try and help.

Bruce tried to convince Alexis that not all monsters were bad, and that she shouldn't be afraid.  
Steve told her that monsters couldn't get into the tower, that she was always safe in her home, and should never have to feel afraid.  
Tony explained that he too had had nightmares as a child. He explained that they were just bad dreams; thoughts in her head that weren't real and couldn't hurt her.  
Thor promised her he would forever keep her safe, just like everyone else in the tower.  
And Pepper bought her young niece a dream catcher; a ploy that had worked wonders when Evie had had nightmares just a few years earlier.  
But nothing worked.

In order to allow Clint and Natasha to get a full night sleep Pepper occasionally stayed with Alexis for the night; although it allowed for some short term relief it didn't solve the problem.

It had gotten so bad that Fury had even offered to get a SHIELD cleared child psychiatrist in to speak to her.  
Unsure at first, desperation finally got the better of Clint and Natasha who agreed.

The night before the appointment when Alexis awoke, screaming in fear; she was alone. Tears fell from her face as she cried hysterically.

Suddenly someone appeared at her door; Evie padded quietly across the bedroom floor, and climbed into bed with her sister, a moment later Henry and Elijah arrived too, squeezing in beside them.

"Lexie, tell us why you're scared?" Evie asked quietly, hugging her baby sister.

"I'm s-scared of the m-monsters" she stuttered through her sobs.

"You don't have to be scared Lex!" Henry told her confidently.

"Yeah; mom and dad are superheroes!" Elijah added with a yawn.

Henry smiled comfortingly at Alexis as she nodded and settled back down to sleep between her three older siblings.

* * *

Natasha woke uncomfortably at the kitchen table. Straining her eyes she looked around to try and comprehend why she was in the kitchen.  
It had been her night to stay with Alexis; but over a month of restless nights had left her completely exhausted. She'd got up in the middle of the night (after Alexis had woken for the third time!) to get a drink and obviously crashed there at the table.

She peaked round the corner of Alexis' room hoping to find her still asleep. What she saw brought a smile to her face; Evie was lay with her back to the wall, hugging Alexis close to her chest, Alexis held her favourite giraffe teddy in one had (it was a gift from Pepper when she'd been born) and her other hand clutched Henry's. Elijah was lay at the foot of the bed, a torch in one hand.

Clint appeared behind Natasha, wrapping his arms round her waist and kissing the side of her neck. Cecelia walked in beside them; climbed up onto the bed and curled up next to Elijah.

"We make cute kids you know Nat?"

"Yeah, yeah we do" she smiled.


	47. Nicknames

_In this chapter; Evie is 12, Elijah & Henry are nine, Alexis is four, Cecelia is three, Jacob is eight and Oliver is four_

* * *

"Uncle Tony..."

"What is it Munchkin?"

"Why do you call me Munchkin?"

"Because you're short"

"Am not!"

"You are compared to everyone else, Munchkin"

"Oh..."  
The young girl contemplated the thought seriously, tilting her head to the side and looking very serious. Tony stifled his laughter as the four year old considered the information.

"Do you have another name for Oliver?"

"It's not 'another name', its a nickname"

"Whats a nickname?"

"It's something that the people that love you call you instead of your real name"

"Okay. What's Oliver's nickname?"

"I call him Bubba"

"Why Bubba?"

"Because he's my baby"

"What about Jacob?"

"He's called Junior"

"Why?"

"Because your Aunt Pepper wouldn't let me call him Tony"

"Do you have a nickname for Lexie?"

"You all have nicknames munchkin. I call Lex Firecracker"

"Firecracker? Why?"

"Because of her red curly hair"

"But me and mommy have red curly hair too"

"Yeah but your mom has a different nickname and Lexie is older than you; she got the nickname first"

"What about Elijah and Henry?"

"Scooby and Scrappy"

"Which is which?"

"What do you think?"

"Is Henry Scrappy?"

"You got it munchkin"

"Why do you call them that?"

"Your mom wouldn't let me call them 'Tweedledum' and 'Tweedledee'"

Cecelia smiled up at her uncle, stopping her coloring and walking over to where he sat on the couch.

"What do you call Evie?"

"Spiderling"

"What's that mean?"

"Baby spider"

"Why do you call her that?"

"That's what your mom and dad call her"

"No it isn't"

"Yes it is"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"They call her Лингпаука"

"They mean the same thing 'Tonia"

"Uncle Tony, why do you sometimes call me Antonia?"

"Your dad lost a bet"

"But my name is Cecelia"

"Not really"

"Yes it is. Ask my mom"

"Your mom is wrong"

Cecelia gasped; "But my mommy is never wrong"

"Munchkin, your name is secretly Antonia, okay?"

The little red headed girl contemplated that for a moment and then nodded. "But I like Cecelia"

"Its okay, other people are still going to call you that"

"Like a nickname?"

"Exactly! But don't tell your mom I told you okay?"

"Why not?"

"You know you ask a lot of questions kid. Don't tell her because she hits me every time I called you that"

The child giggled, climbing onto Tony's knee. Her curly hair in pigtails tickled Tony's cheek as she hugged her godfather. Cecelia was the baby of the tower and used to getting her own way; she had everyone, but mostly Tony, wrapped around her little finger.

"No seriously, don't tell your mom!"

"Don't tell me what?"

Natasha appeared behind them, startling Tony; "Jesus Widow! Give me some warning before you do that!"  
Cecelia climbed over the back of the couch and into her mothers arms

"Mommy! Uncle Tony told me a secret!"

"Oh he did, did he?" Natasha asked, raising her eyebrow at Tony, as he shot a warning glare to his niece

"Yeah, but I can't tell you because it's a secret"

"Listen ребенок девушка (baby girl); you shouldn't believe everything your Uncle Tony tells you. You should always ask me or daddy or Aunty Pepper"

Tony rolled his eyes

"Okay мумия!" (Mommy)

At that moment Pepper entered the room

"Aunty Pepper what's my real name?"

"Cecelia... Why?" Pepper looked expectantly at Tony

"Uncle Tony told me that's not my real name"

"Did Uncle Tony tell you your name was Antonia?"

Cecelia nodded, her curls bouncing as she did

"Well Uncle Tony is just pretending, aren't you Uncle Tony?" Pepper said, hitting him over the head from behind the couch.

"Her name should have been Antonia"

"Come on Tony, you made that bet with Clint before Evie was born! It was 13 years ago! Let it go already!" Pepper said exasperated

Cecelia wiggled down from her mothers grasp and walked to where Tony was still sat

"Don't you like my name Uncle Tony?" she asked sadly

"Of course I like your name Munchkin"

"Because you can call me Antonia if you want too..." she said; wide eyed and head down

Tony caught the eyes of Pepper and Natasha, they both stood silently; watching the interaction

"Why would I call you that when your name's Cecelia" Tony asked; hopeful the child would stop pouting her bottom lip and looking so sadly at him

Cecelia finally smiled and jumped happily; throwing herself into her uncles arms

Natasha and Pepper smiled and left the room.

"I love you Uncle Tony"

"I love you too Cecelia"


	48. Junior Avengers

_In this chapter; Evie is 12, Elijah & Henry are nine, Jacob is eight, Alexis & Oliver are five and Cecelia is four_

* * *

Alexis Barton was definitely the easiest child in the tower to look after. She was forever smiling and laughing, always thinking of others; hyper aware of their feelings, and constantly tied to make everyone else happy.

So when she was being bullied at school she hid it; not wanting to upset her parents or worry her siblings.  
But there was a downfall; Oliver stark, her cousin, was in her class. They were close in age and were best friends, occasionally Oliver wound Alexis up terribly, but on the whole they were incredibly close (much to Clint's dismay; Steve and Bruce often joked about the two of them getting married when they grew up)

Alexis never cried when she was hurt, never; she saw the upset and distress it caused others when her siblings and cousins cried. Oliver once asked her how she was so brave; "I have to be" was her only response.

A group of children in their class had started teasing Alexis when she'd turned up in her new glasses; stating that there was no was a kid with sight problems could be the child of two superheroes.  
The bullying quickly spread to the older kids, (the school the kids attended was a small, and expensive, private school which ran right from preschool up to high school) and one day at recess Jensen Kent, the older brother of a boy in Alexis' class pushed her over and stole her glasses, refusing to give them back and teasing her about her eye sight. Jensen was much older than Alexis and Oliver; he was 13 and in middle school, but was known to pick on smaller kids if he thought he could get away with it.  
Oliver had had enough and yelled at the older boy. He helped Alexis up and looked at her hands which were cut and grazed, but she made him pinky promise not to tell, and between them; pinky promises were sacred. Alexis told her parents she'd misplaced her glasses at school and Oliver was forced to keep the secret. The next day at recess Jensen started teasing Alexis again, so Oliver decided it was time to do something about it.

The Avengers were running over a plan for an upcoming mission with Coulson when Hill stormed in;

"Romanoff, Barton, Stark. The school wants to see you. Now"

"I better ring Pepper" Tony said

"She's on her way. She'll meet you in the lobby in five minutes"

This was a new experience for Tony and Pepper, never having been called into the school before. For Natasha and Clint, it was unfortunately a common occurrence.  
The four adults walked down the corridor to the head masters office where they found Evie, Elijah, Henry and Oliver sat sulking; currently receiving a lecture on violence from their head master.

"Thanks for coming down so quickly" Mr. Cross stated. "I'm afraid I have to inform you that your children have been involved in a fight this afternoon"

Pepper looked at Oliver slightly shocked, he wasn't normally violent in the slightest, but then saying that; neither was Evie, and as mischievous as the twins were; they'd never once been in a fight before now.

"I've called you down to ask if you wouldn't mind taking them home early, we're not going to take this further due to the circumstances" he turned to address the children now "but it's important this does not happen again okay?"

The four children nodded and got up to leave

"Mr and Mrs Barton, could I speak with you for a moment longer?"  
Tony and Pepper followed the children from the room

"The fight broke out as a result of your kids trying to defend Alexis"

"What happened with Lexie? Is she okay?" Clint asked worried

"She's okay. She might need some talking to later though. It seems one of the older children has been picking on her, but we're keeping an eye on the situation and the student in question has been suspended"

Clint stayed to talk to the headmaster while Natasha went to collect Alexis.  
She found her sat alone on a bench outside her class room, miserably swinging her legs. As soon as she saw her mom approaching she burst into tears, running into her arms and clinging to her tightly as Natasha picked her up

"I'm sorry Mommy. I really am sorry"

"Oh фейерверк, it's not your fault. It's not your fault" she said, holding back her own tears as she clutched her daughter in her arms. It occurred to Natasha that this was the first time she'd seen Alexis cry since she was a baby.

"Please don't be mad at the others"

"I'm not mad Lexie, I just wish you'd told me or Daddy sooner"

"I didn't want to make you sad"

Natasha felt her breath catch in her throat

"Lexie, if you're not happy you must tell someone so we can make it better, okay?"

Alexis nodded, still clinging to Natasha tightly.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?" Natasha queried, still fighting to keep her own emotions under control

"They said I was adopted, because I need glasses for reading" she said quietly, it pained Natasha that she sensed a slight question in her daughters statement

"Well that's just silly" Natasha told her with a slight laugh, trying desperately to lighten the mood. Natasha sat back on the bench with Alexis facing her; "See look at your hair, it's exactly the same as mine. And those dimples in your cheeks when you smile; they're just like your Daddy. Your green eyes are just like mine, and the way you snort when you laugh is from your Dad. Those kids are just being mean because it make's them feel better. You just have to ignore them okay?"

"Okay Mommy" Alexis smiled at her, showing her the dimples that matched Clint's perfectly.

Clint had explained the situation Pepper and Tony while they were waiting for Natasha and Alexis; he didn't want Oliver getting into too much trouble

They all went back to the tower and had a very serious conversation about how fighting was wrong. Elijah came out with a clever remark about how they were 'avenging' Alexis, and Henry came up with 'the Junior Avengers' as a joke; both Tony and Clint nodded, clearly impressed. Once all the children were well informed on 'using their words not their fists' (Pepper's words) and promised profusely never to get involved in a fight again; they were taken out for ice cream, along with Jacob and Cecelia who had missed out on all the action. More than anything the trip out was to cheer Alexis up.

That night Clint woke up to an empty bed, he wondered down the hallway to find Natasha stood in Alexis' doorway, silently watching her sleep. He placed a gentle hand on the small of Natasha's back; she turned slightly and curled into his arms, not taking her eyes off her daughter.

"She didn't want to tell us in case we got upset" Natasha whispered into Clint's chest

"Alexis has always been like that"

"Yeah, remember that sweater you bought her last month?"

"Oh yeah?"

"She hates it. She takes it off at the school gates and hides it in her bag; she only puts it back on in time for you to pick her up. She didn't want to hurt your feelings"

Clint took a moment to consider this information, before responding with a story of his own;

"She doesn't like oatmeal either. But she eats it every morning because she knows it's the only thing you can cook"

"Clint, is that normal? The other kids have all been so outspoken"

"Tasha, she's not a push over; she just doesn't like to make a fuss. Lex is a sweet kid; she'd do anything to make others happy. We'll keep an eye on her, but I don't think we've anything to worry about... Besides, she's got four other kids at that school to look out for her"

"That's true" Natasha smiled, the guilt that had been weighing her down all afternoon finally ebbing away. She allowed Clint to lead her back to their bedroom to get some sleep, feeling immensely proud of her daughter.


	49. Finally

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah and Henry are nine, Alexis is five and Cecelia is four, Jacob is nine and Oliver is five_

* * *

Pepper and Tony had been trying to get pregnant for months, and finally her period was late.  
She booked a doctor's appointment and dragged Tony with her as soon as possible.  
Unfortunately it wasn't the news either of them wanted to hear; Pepper was unable to conceive, her hormone levels weren't high enough for her to become pregnant at the moment.

They both felt disappointed but decided to carry on trying, the doctor prescribed various pills and medications, even injections to help them; but nothing worked. Three failed attempts at IVF later; they gave up. They'd been trying for almost three years and decided to just enjoy the two sons they had; between them and the five Baton kids, they certainly had enough to contend with.

Then for their 15th wedding anniversary the team booked them a surprise vacation to Dubai; three weeks away with no team, no missions, no stress and no kids. It was perfect.  
One month after returning Pepper discovered that she was pregnant. She was absolutely terrified it was a dream, that it wasn't true. Or if it was; it wouldn't last.

At the twelve week scan she gripped Tony's hand tightly as they heard their baby's heartbeat. She smiled at the grainy image on the screen; finally allowing herself to believe it.

She was still too afraid to tell the others yet, and so she and Tony waited until after the 20 week scan. When all was confirmed to be okay she wept with happiness; they were going to have a daughter.


	50. Семья (Part II)

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah and Henry are nine, Alexis is four and Cecelia is three_

* * *

The latest attack on New York came not long before Elijah and Henry's tenth birthdays.  
The Avenger's assembled to fight a group of aliens who could disappear and reappear at will; you had to catch them completely off guard in order to get a hit in, but if you could; they were pretty easy to kill.  
They'd all taken a beating, but were down to the last few thanks largely to The Hulk.

But then one of the aliens got lucky, they'd manage to sneak up on Stark while he was covering Steve. Natasha had been the only one to notice and had saved his life with a few swift bullets, but she'd left herself open; one of the aliens caught her off guard, they'd, materialised behind her, swung their staff and knocked her from the rooftop on which they were fighting.

Tony had somehow managed to reach her before she hit floor, but it was a close call.

The battle swiftly ended when, in anger; Thor took out the remaining aliens with one major lightening strike.

Luckily they'd been fighting on and around the SHIELD HQ building and weren't far from medical. Steve needed his arm looking at, and Clint needed some serious medical attention for his leg, which may or may not have been broken. He refused to let anyone look at it until he knew his wife was okay. She was unconscious after the blow to the head she took from the aliens staff and no-one knew how serious it was yet.

"Agent Barton, can we speak to you... In private?"  
Clint nodded, leaving the rest of his team behind and hobbled down the hallway to his wife's hospital room

"Is she okay?" Clint's voice was almost pleading

"She should be fine, she'll be out for a while, and we'll want to keep her in for about a week to monitor her, but knowing Agent Romanoff she'll be out of here as soon as she's awake"

Clint smiled, breathing a sigh of relief

"There's something else Agent Barton..."

Clint's eyes snapped up from his wife, looking up at the doctor once more

"Did you know Agent Romanoff was pregnant?"

"Wha- what?"

Clint was sure he'd misheard; they'd decided they would try for another baby, but not for another few years. They were going to wait until Alexis and Cecelia had both started school, and that wasn't for another two years.  
Clint had always wanted eight children (he's not sure why exactly, he just always had), Natasha had wanted two, he'd convinced her to settle on six ('almost a compromise' Natasha called it)

"She's not very far along, barely seven weeks; it's probable she doesn't know herself yet. We're going to want to keep an eye on everything after what happened today, just to make sure everything is remains okay, but it seems alright so far"

"Right, okay. Thanks" he was still slightly in shock, he didn't know how to respond

Clint went to tell the rest of the team that Nat was going to be okay, and that they could all go home. Steve and Bruce offered to take care of the kids so Clint could stay with Natasha for the night. He was grateful; he wanted to be the one to tell her they were going to be parents again.

Natasha woke several hours later at 2am, Clint by her bedside still awake and watching her intensely.

"Clint?"

"Tasha, you're awake!" he smiled, stroking the side of her face. He quickly withdrew his hand when she winced in pain.  
"Hey Tasha, I heard some news today"

"You did?"

"I did"

"It good news?"

"It is"

"You gonna share?"

"You're pretty drugged up Nat, I think i'll tell you when i'm sure you'll remember. Its pretty big news"

"Okay Clint, tell me tomorrow"

"Sure thing" he smiled once more, kissing her hand and watching as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep

* * *

As it turns out, Clint should have told her there and then. The next morning Steve brought their five kids to come visit, who spent all day in the medical wing; chatting at 100mph, terrorising the nurses, cuddling up to their mother and making up games to pass the time. When Steve took them home to get them fed, Pepper visited, and after that it was Coulson and Hill.  
Clint was desperate to blurt it out all day, but this was going to remain their little secret until they knew everything was going to be okay. Natasha had been though a lot in the last few days.

Clint had to literally beg the doctor not to tell her, insisting on doing it himself.

* * *

When it came time for Natasha's discharge (two days too late according to Natasha, four days too early according to the doctors) Clint still hadn't had chance to tell her. The doctor wanted to do a scan before she left so it was now or never.

"Tasha, we need to talk"

"We're going back to the tower in a minute, can't it wait til then. I just really want to get out of here"

"You remember the conversation we had when you first woke up?"

"No, not really"

"I have some big news to tell you" Clint blurted out hurriedly in order to stop Natasha who was on her way to the door of her room

She turned to face him, sensing the serious tone to his voice

"Is it good or bad?"

"Good"

"Go on then"

Clint stared at her; he had no idea where to start. It was unusual for a man to have to tell a woman she was going to be a mother, it was normally the other way around. He suddenly felt for Natasha, she had had to figure out how to do this several times to him.

"Tasha..." he began, but faltered at her gaze

"Yes?" she prompted, sitting back down on the bed, dizzy from standing for too long

"Maybe you should stay in for a bit longer?"

"Clint, no. I want to go home, I want to see the kids and sleep in my own bed. There's no reason for me to stay any longer, now can we go?"

"One minute. So, the news..."

"The news?"

...

"Tasha, we're going to have another baby"

Now it was Natasha's turn to be speechless.

"Tasha, Tasha you okay?" she'd been silent for a while

"Is- is everything okay with the baby?"

"Yeah"

"Are you sure?"

"They think so"

Natasha found herself crying, tears silently falling from her eyes

"Tasha?"

She looked up, wiping the tears and nodding. Smiling happily as Clint wrapped his arms around her.

"You ready for the scan now?" the doctor called round the door.


	51. News

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah and Henry are nine, Alexis is four and Cecelia is three, Jacob is nine and Oliver is four_

After the scan was completed, Clint and Natasha were assured everything was fine, but were asked to come back the following week to check on her head injury and they'd perform another scan then.

They got back to the tower and were greeted with five excited children. Everyone was gathered in the communal lounge, which wasn't unusual, but they seemed to be waiting for something. All the kids went down the hallway to join Jacob and Oliver in the playroom, while Tony stood and motions for Clint and Natasha to sit.

"Okay, so me and Pepper have some news... We're having another baby!"

There was a chorus of "congratulations" and "that's great news" from everyone

Hugs and handshakes were exchanged all round; Tony was beaming, Pepper was glowing and everyone was happy for them. They'd decided a little over a year ago to try for another baby and it had proven difficult, they'd had a few false alarms, but now they were finally pregnant. They'd waited to tell everyone until the results of the genetic screening came back; making sure the baby was healthy. Pepper was now 20 weeks pregnant and had somehow hidden it from everyone for this long.

Natasha and Clint glanced at each other, smiling at their own little secret. It'd be a while, but hopefully they too could share their news with their friends soon.


	52. Girls Day In

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah & Henry are 10, Alexis is four, Cecelia is three, Jacob is nine and Oliver is four, Natasha is two months pregnant and Pepper is six months pregnant_

* * *

A few weeks after Pepper and Tony had made their announcement; Darcy came to visit.  
Thor, Jane, Bruce and Steve had taken the older kids ice skating while Clint and Tony had taken the younger ones with them to do their Christmas shopping for their wives.

Darcy arrived with three large Starbucks hot chocolates, a tray of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a handful of movies.

The three women gathered in the lounge with the fire on and discussed Pepper's exciting news, Darcy had been miffed she was away when she made the announcement and made her retell everything.

"So Pepper, tell me everything"

"You pretty much know everything Darce; I'm pregnant. There's not much else to tell"

"What I want to know is how you kept it secret all this time, when I was pregnant with the boys everyone just knew"

"Tash, you were pregnant with twins"

"Yeah, but I was barely three months when everyone pointed it out. You were nearly six months and no one noticed"

"It was easier for me to wear baggier clothes; your uniform doesn't leave much room for hiding it"

Natasha shrugged, contemplating slightly about her own secret, she was almost three months pregnant and desperate to tell her friends, however her and Clint had agreed not to tell anyone until after the 12 week scan.

"And all the screening came back negative?" Darcy asked

Pepper nodded, her mouth full of doughnut. After Jacob was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome shortly after he was born, her and Tony had been advised to undergo genetic screening on each subsequent pregnancy.

"Do you know what you're having?" Darcy asked excitedly, knowing how much both Pepper and Tony wanted a daughter

"A girl" Pepper smiled brightly

Natasha and Darcy both smiled, they were both so happy for their friends

"So Tasha, when are you and Clint having your next one?" Darcy switched the conversation with a wink

Natasha nearly choked on her hot chocolate at the abruptness of the question. She knew they were both expecting her to outright deny they were having anymore kids, but she didn't want to lie.  
She covered up her shock with a cough and shrugged her shoulders, trying to turn the conversation back around; "You thought of any names yet Pepper?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You blatantly avoided the question!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did, come on Tasha, spill it?"

Now she was stuck, she could lie her way out of any situation in the field, however when it came to her friends; they knew her too well, and she always felt guilty keeping things from them.  
Her prolonged silence answered the question for them anyway.

"Oh my God Nat, are you pregnant too?!" Darcy asked excitedly, shifting forward in her seat

"Okay, yes but you can't mention it to anyone else"

"I'm totally winning the bet!" Darcy said under her breath

"What?"

"Nothing"

"Congratulations Tasha!" Pepper exclaimed, getting up to hug her friend

Natasha was smiling; she was clearly thrilled and felt much better after telling two of her closest friends

"How far along are you?"

"Only 11 weeks, we were going to tell the kids next week after the scan"

"Wait so you were pregnant the other week when you fell off the roof of SHIELD?"

"I didn't fall!"

"Okay, well whatever happened..."

"I believe I was knocked off the roof after saving Tony's life" she answered, "I don't fall"

"He did save you in return afterwards" Darcy clarified

"Yeah true" she admitted

"You would have been like two months pregnant then?"

"Yeah, almost. I didn't know though, not until I woke up and the doctor had told Clint"

"Was everything okay?" Pepper suddenly seemed very concerned. She knew missions injuries had cost Natasha in the past

"They said everything was fine, we've had a few checkups since too. But anyway, back to you; you thought of any names yet?"

"Yeah, we're going to call her Poppy"

"Awwww" Darcy gushed

"Not Antonia?" Natasha asked, smiling

"Definitely not!"

"Heyy!" Clint greeted them, leaning over the couch to kiss Natasha as he ran to the kitchen area

"Hey daddy" Darcy winked at him, Natasha glared at her before shaking her head subtly to Clint who was giving her a confused look

"Clint where's Tony?" Pepper asked

"He's on our floor with the kids, I just came to steal some sugar; we ran out last night. Anyone want anything?"

"Yeah; can you leave so we can carry on talking about you" Darcy teased. It wasn't unusual for Clint and Darcy to joke and torment each other

He shot another questioning glance to Natasha but she avoided his gaze, at this rate it wouldn't take him long to figure out that Darcy and Pepper knew, and he'd insist on telling Tony; who in turn would tell everyone

"Only if you say nice things" Clint countered back to Darcy, kissing Natasha again on his way out

Once he'd left Natasha threw a doughnut at Darcy

"Way to be subtle!"

"Sorry. But is it really so bad if everyone knew? You know they're all going to be thrilled"

"I know, I just want to check everything is still okay before everyone knows"

"Got you, my lips are sealed" she smiled, mimicking the phrase so often muttered by the children in the tower

"Don't worry Tasha, we'll act surprised when you tell us again" Pepper laughed

"When are you going to tell Fury?"

"I'm not sure" Natasha wasn't looking forward to telling him.  
When she and Clint had got married he hadn't been too impressed; he'd terminated their partnership. But when their missions started going badly; on Clint's first solo mission he'd been shot (twice) and his first mission with a new partner had left six agents dead. While Natasha's solo missions had been just as disastrous; she'd been trapped in a burning building and kidnapped by a terrorist cell; she'd refused to work with a new partner after her first mission with Agent Turner left her with a concussion and a broken ankle when he'd missed a shot at an approaching enemy solider, she failed to trust anyone else to have her back after that.  
Shortly after, Fury partnered them up again.  
Following an injury during her first pregnancy (she was thrown out of a second story window during a fight when she was almost five months pregnant) Fury withdrew Natasha from active field duty as soon as he was able. More than a few missions had been botched due to her absence, and she knew Fury was quietly confident she wouldn't be needing anymore maternity leave.

"He is gonna be pissed!" Darcy added, further adding to Natasha's feeling of dread at broaching the subject with her boss; maybe she'd just let Clint tell him

"Hey Tasha, can I speak to you a minute?" Clint had reappeared at the elevator door

Darcy glanced at her apologetically as she got up to leave

"Do Darcy and Pepper know?"

"No"

"Tasha, look at me?"

"Why?"

"I can tell if you're lying when you look at me"

"Alright fine, they know..."

"That's great!" Clint enthused, confusing Natasha slightly. "Now I can tell Tony!"

"Oh Clint, can't you wait just a few more days? Tony's worse at keeping secrets than the kids"

"And you, apparently"

"I know; I'm sorry. They asked me outright; I couldn't lie to them... There's a difference between not telling, and lying to them"

Clint sighed, but he knew she was right. If he told Tony the whole world would know within the hour.

Natasha leaned in, passionately kissing Clint; "The scan is in five days, after that I promise you can be the one to tell the others" she said, before returning to the kiss

Suddenly Tony appeared behind them; "Stop that now! That's the kind of behavior that leads to this" he said, holding up Cecelia who was covered head to toe in green paint

"Oh what happened ребенок девушка? (baby girl)" Natasha asked, taking her youngest daughter from Tony's outstretch arms.

"You can't take your eye off them for two minutes!" He stepped aside to reveal Alexis and Oliver, both sulking and green paint dripping from their hands.

"We wanted to make her into 'The Hulk'" Oliver admitted sheepishly

"I have no idea how you guys cope with five" he said, before taking Oliver to get cleaned up

"Little does he know" Clint whispered into Natasha's ear as he took Alexis' hand in his

"Shhhhh" Natasha said smiling, elbowing him in his side.


	53. Telling the Kids

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah & Henry are 10, Alexis is four, Cecelia is three, Jacob is nine and Oliver is four_

* * *

When Clint and Natasha had had the 12 week scan and confirmed everything was okay they decided it was time to tell everyone; starting with the kids.

The elder four were thrilled; especially Lexie who'd been too young to remember much about when Cecelia had been a baby.  
Cecelia however started instantly sulking.

"What's up Cece?" Clint asked, noticing his youngest daughter's bad mood.

"I wanna speak to Uncle Tony" she said, pouting and stubbornly crossing her arms.

"Okay, you can go see Uncle Tony, but sweetheart Uncle Tony doesn't know about the baby yet, so you can't talk to him about that, okay?"

"Okay" she sighed, and turned to go to her bedroom instead of to the elevator

Clint and Natasha glanced at each other, they hadn't been expecting that.  
Clint stayed in the lounge, answering the other kids questions such as when the baby was due (mid august) and whether it was a boy or girl (they didn't know)  
Natasha went down the hallway to find their youngest daughter. She was curled up on her bed hugging her favourite toy horse.

"Cecelia, ребенок девушка (baby girl), what's the matter?

"Are you still going to call me that when the baby's born?"

"Did you still want me to?"

"Yes"

"Then of course I will"

Cecelia moved to sit up, Natasha sat beside her and after a moment of silence Cecelia gave in and crawled up on to sit on her mother's knee. Natasha wrapped her arms around her and explained to her that no matter how many children she and Clint had, they'd always love them all equally.

"You're not going to be the baby anymore Celia, but me and your dad have a really important job for you"

Cecelia suddenly looked more interested in what Natasha had to say, peering up from where her head rested against her mother's shoulder, though she didn't remove the pout from her face

"We need you to be a big sister now"

"What does that mean?"

"It means you get to help us look after your baby brother or sister, and play with them. You get to help them, like your brothers and sisters help you, and you have to love them, like they're going to love you"

"I can do that" she smiled, nodding happily, she seemed reassured and finally joined the others in their excitement about the news

"That's good then" Natasha smiled, stroking the red curly hair from her daughters face

Cecelia hugged her tightly before scrambling from her knee, grabbing her hand and pulling her back down the hallway to join the others.


	54. Slip Up

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah and Henry are 10, Alexis is four and Cecelia is three, Jacob is nine and Oliver is four, Natasha is three months pregnant and Pepper is seven months pregnant_

* * *

One morning after Evie, Elijah, Henry and Jacob had gone to school; the whole team, their guests, and the younger children gathered on the communal floor while Tony made bacon, sausages, egg and hash browns; he didn't cook often, and when he did it was always the same thing, but he made it well.

Natasha decline the plate of food offered to her, instead picking up an orange and starting to peel it.

"What's up Nat?" Tony queried, she never normally turned down his hash browns, in fact; they were her favourite.

"Doesn't the baby like the breakfast мумия?" (Mommy) Cecelia asked from where she sat at the table; watching her mom with concern. Natasha had had terrible morning sickness, much worse than she'd had before, and Cecelia had been worried.

The whole room had gone silent; Tony, Bruce, Thor and Steve, along with Pepper, Darcy, Jane and Phil were all staring at Natasha, various looks of shock worn on their faces. Clint was staring at his youngest daughter who didn't seem to have realised her slip up. Alexis, Cecelia and Oliver carried on with their breakfast, none the wiser to the secret which had just been broadcast, while every adult in the room had frozen in place; waiting for an explanation.

"Erm... Surprise!" Clint said, distracting most people's gaze from his wife.

"No way, seriously?" Tony asked, still holding out the plate of food to Natasha.

"It is a fine occasion that both of you are expecting a child" Thor boomed loudly, smiling at Natasha while placing his arm on Pepper's shoulder. Pepper was almost seven months now.

"Do you guys like, plan this?" Bruce asked, referring to the fact that each of Pepper's pregnancies had overlapped with one of Natasha's

Congratulations and hugs were passed round as the news sunk in.  
As insistent as Natasha always was that they weren't having any more children, no one had quite believed her...

"You know, your floor is really running out of space" Tony said, turning back to his cooking after burning a pan full of bacon

"We knew you'd give in Nat" Jane told her, smiling

"What do you mean?" Clint asked through a mouth full of bacon and egg

"We all put $10 in the pot and bet on how long it'd take til you guys were expecting again" Steve explained, ensuring a safe distance from Natasha

"Oh who won, who won?" Darcy asked excitedly

Bruce took out a list from his pocket, quickly scanning it over

"How far along are you Tash?" he asked

"12 weeks" Clint answered quickly before Natasha had chance to answer

If Natasha hadn't felt so nauseated she'd have got up and taken it off him. But at the moment moving from the couch seemed just too much effort  
Clint peered over the back couch at the list while Bruce read it out loud;

"So Tony you were out straight away; you said 6 weeks after Cece was born"

Natasha raised her eyebrows at Tony, while Cecelia looked up at the mention of her name

"Thor you're out, you said 6 years. Steve and Jane both bet 2 years; you're out. Fury put his money on 3 years so he was close..."

"You got Fury in on this?" Clint asked, slightly impressed

"Oh Hill put four years, she might be closest... Oh wait, Tony, how'd you get your name on here three times?"

"I put in $30"

"You're disqualified"

"What? Why?"

"You can't bet more than once!"

"Okay so the closest person, with a single bet was... Darcy; you bet four and a half years"

"Yes! I need a new pair of boots! And I want to buy a super cool toy for my future godchild!" she exclaimed excitedly "Now pay up losers!"

Darcy sat smiling; counting all the money she'd won. She got up to leave, taking Alexis and Cecelia with her to the shops. On her way out she passed Natasha half the money and winked as she left.

"Wait, did you know about this?" Tony asked outraged

"Maybe?"

"Did you plan this?" he asked again

"No, I told Darcy to change her bet. Obviously she didn't listen to me"

Tony looked at her, doubting her explanation but not pushing it any further

"We were going to wait til Cece starterd school" Clint explained, now eating the plate of food tony had made up for Natasha

"What, and you guys just couldn't wait?!"

"Tony do you really not hear the words you're saying?" Pepper asked, flicking the TV over to The Jetsons for Oliver.

"Yes, I just meant... Each time... Have you guys ever planned to get pregnant?"

"No" Clint admitted

"See, thats what I meant!"

"Anyway, moving on..." Pepper cut in, before her husband dug a hole too deep to get out of, "You guys going to find out the sex this time?!

"Yeah, this time I think we will" Natasha answered. Clint had wanted to find out each time; Natasha hadn't, and she'd won. The last five had been surprises, but this time they would find out. It might help them decide on a name too. They struggled with agreeing on names and could use the extra time to plan.

"So six kids eh?" Tony asked nudging Clint

"Yeah, six kids" Clint smiled.


	55. Unexpected Delivery (Part I)

_In this chapter; Evie is 13, Elijah & Henry are 10, Alexis is five, Cecelia is four, Jacob is nine and Oliver is five and Poppy is 3 months old_

* * *

Natasha was taking complete advantage of being alone in the tower; it didn't happen very often!  
She had a quiet, relaxing morning and did some tidying in the afternoon.

Suddenly she felt a tightening in her abdomen; she passed them off as Braxton Hicks contractions and took it as a sign she needed to rest, but an hour later when they were coming more rapidly and had increased in intensity she couldn't deny it any longer; she was in labour. She was only 33 weeks pregnant which worried her, what worried her more was that everyone was out of state; Clint, Tony and Pepper had taken all the kids to Disney World for the weekend, Thor and Jane had gone along and Steve and Bruce had been posted in Texas temporarily for the past few days.

She rang Clint, who promised they'd be back as soon as possible; he'd made Fury lend them a jet in case of an emergency. It'd take them less than 2 hours to get back, Jane also though Darcy may be in the city and told Natasha to try her cell. Luckily for her, she wasn't far from the tower and sped right over.

"Tasha? Natasha?" Darcy had sped through three red lights to get to the tower and been impatiently jabbing at buttons in the elevator. She found Natasha curled up on the couch, she was in serious pain and worry was etched all over her face.

"Come on Nat, we need to get you to medical now"

"No, we need to wait for Clint"

"I don't think we do, he can meet us there. I am so not qualified to deliver a baby!"

* * *

When they got to SHIELD medical the doctor on shift tried to send her away, blaming Braxton Hicks once again.

"She's had **five** children! Don't you think she knows the difference?" Darcy yelled. She scared the doctor so much he gave in, admitted her, and call the resident OBGYN in right in the middle of her week off.

Darcy stayed with Natasha, gripping her hand through the contractions and wiping her hair from her face. "Clint will be here soon" she kept promising, keeping her eye on her phone for any update.

"It's time to start pushing" the doctor informed her

"But Clint's not here"

"This baby isn't waiting for anyone"

At that moment Clint burst through the door

"Oh thank God!" Darcy said, "Good luck Tasha!" She said, kissing her friend on the forehead before leaving the room and joining the others in the waiting room.

"Sorry I'm late!" Clint scurried to take up his place by his wife's side, taking her hand in his he smiled encouragingly at her

Just over half an hour later their son was born. He was so tiny, but perfect.

Clint went to announce the news to the rest of the family eagerly waiting outside, while the baby was checked over and transferred to NICU for observations due to his size.

"We have a son" Clint announced proudly, "his name is Isaac Anthony Barton" he watched as Tony's face lit up in disbelief. "It was all Natasha's idea" he added quietly to him

Everyone crowded round; offering their congratulations and asking after Natasha. Bruce and Steve suddenly burst through the door, joining the huddle; desperate for an update.

"Agent Barton?"

Clint turned to see the doctor gesturing him to follow her back down to Natasha's room. A nervous glance at the others told him they were all thinking the same thing: Natasha had had problems in the past; following Evie's birth Natasha had almost died, the boys were born following complications of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, Alexis was born almost three weeks overdue, and Cecelia had been breech; none of them had been straightforward. The fact that Isaac had been almost two months premature had been worry enough.

Clint immediately sprinted back down the hallway to his wife's room.


	56. Unexpected Delivery (Part II)

"What's happening?" Evie asked the others, they looked up each other hopelessly, not knowing what to say.

"I want to see mommy" Cecelia asked, sensing the anxiety in the room

"You can't right now sweetheart" Jane explained gently

"Is something wrong?" Henry asked from beside her, again no one knew what to say.

A short while later a nurse approached, asking if anyone wanted to see the baby. Pepper and Tony went down to the NICU to see baby Isaac while the others waited for an update. He was so tiny; his eyes were tightly shut and his little fists were clenched. He had flicks of blond hair on his head and he sighed slightly as he slept. There were tubes and monitors everywhere, but the nurse ensured them he was fine, perfectly healthy other than his lungs being a little under developed.

Pepper found herself silently crying, she didn't even notice herself until Tony wiped away the tears from her cheek.

"You okay Pepper?"

She nodded, not wanting to talk in case she could no long hold her herself together. She didn't want to breakdown in the middle of the NICU.

He took her into his arms knowing exactly how she felt. No one knew what was going on with Natasha; the doctors didn't even seem sure. The kids were scared and all the adults felt helpless; they had no answers for them.  
Alexis and Cecelia were young and fairly easily reassured, but the elder three knew better. They were intelligent and knew there were questions not being answered.

Tony felt horrible to admit that he was glad he was here rather than with them; it broke his heart to see them look so lost.

They stood there, watching over Clint and Natasha's tiny son, hoping everything was alright with their friend, waiting for an update soon.

* * *

Clint followed the doctor back down the hallway

"What's going on?"

"Agent Romanoff isn't progressing how we'd expect"

"What- what does that mean?"

"Her contractions aren't slowing down, in fact they're increasing"

"Right... Okay..?"

"Did anyone ever discuss with you the possibility of twins?"

"What? No! Is that even possible? For it to be missed all this time?"

"It's incredibly rare, but yes it does happen. If one baby is hidden behind the others at scans and it's hard to differentiate between the babies movements if they're positioned the same way"

"Have you told Tasha yet?"

"No not yet, she's in quite a lot of distress and I wanted to confirm my suspicions before telling her. I'm going to go get the ultrasound, I'll be right back"

And with that, she left Clint outside his wife's room.

"Tasha"

"Clint, what's going on?" there was a slight hint of panic in her voice, if there was one thing Natasha didn't like; it was not knowing what was happening

Clint gripped her hand as another painful contraction ripped through her

"Clint?"

"Tasha, the doctor thinks it might be twins"

"What?! No! We agreed strongone/strong more baby. emOne!/em"

"I know Tash, but twins is something you don't really plan" he smiled at her reaction"

"Clint"

"What is it Tasha?"

"I hate you"

He smiled once more, leaning in to kiss her before the next contraction caused her to grip his hand so tightly he gasped in pain.

The doctor reappeared to perform the ultrasound

"Natasha, I really need you to hold still for a minute"

"Easier said than done" Natasha grimaced

"Yeah, there's definitely another baby in there. I'm going to go grab some supplies and then we should be ready"

"This is all your fault Clint Barton!"

"I'm sorry Tasha" he smiled once more


	57. Unexpected Delivery (Part III)

Clint ran back down the hallway to tell the others what was going on, Tony and Pepper weren't there but he excitedly shared the news; noting the relief and shock on each of their faces. He hugged each of his children before running to his wife's side.

It had been over an hour since Isaac had been born and nothing seemed to be progressing other than the intensity of the contractions.

"Ideally the second baby would be born within 45 minutes of the first; second twins are much more at risk of complications so we really need this baby to be born now" the doctor informed them

Natasha was exhausted; it had been a long and painful labour. She hadn't been expecting to give birth this soon, she hadn't been expecting twins, and the doctor was getting on her nerves.

"You're doing great Tasha" Clint encouraged. The doctor's words had scared him, and he was sure she'd worried Nat to.

"This isn't working, I'm going to go book a cesarean section; we need this baby out now"

Natasha threw her head back onto the pillow; she was frustrated and felt defeated.

"It's okay Nat; it's all going to be okay"  
She knew he was bluffing, he didn't know that it'd be alright.

"All the operating theaters are in use, so we need you to keep going. We're next on the list but it may be another hour until we can get you in theater. Really, that's way too long to wait so we really need you get through this okay?"  
Natasha nodded with renewed determination

Jane, Darcy and Steve had taken the kids to get some food from the canteen a few floors down. They were getting impatient now. They wanted to see their mom and baby brother. They wanted to know what was going on with the second baby, they had lots of questions but no one had any answers.  
Thor and Steve had offered to take them down the road to the park but they'd all refused to leave.

* * *

It had been almost another half an hour and still nothing had happened.

"I'm going to give you some medication to try and speed things up a bit" the doctor informed her

"Why didn't you try that earlier?" Clint asked, getting agitated

"It increases the contraction rate and intensity, I was hoping to avoid using it but the baby is becoming distressed and there's no sign of an OR opening up anytime soon. I'm not going to lie; this is going to hurt like hell" she told Natasha, before adding the medication to the IV drip.

She wasn't lying.

If the contractions were painful before, they were nothing to what they felt like now. The pain took her breath away and she found it difficult to breathe. She could focus on nothing but the pain; she knew Clint and Dr. Halloway were talking to her but the words weren't getting through. Her vision blurred as she forced her eyes open.

* * *

Two hours and 45 minutes after Isaac had been born; his sister entered the world.

Clint cradled Natasha in his arms, whispering to her how well she'd done, that he was so proud and that it was all over.  
She was barely conscious; the hours of painful labour had really taken it out of her.

Clint suddenly realised he hadn't heard the baby cry, the doctor was in the corner of the room pressing lightly on her chest; trying to resuscitate her.

The labour had gone on far too long for both mother and baby

Clint watched helplessly as the doctor tried desperately to get his daughter to take a breath, he felt Natasha suddenly go limp in his arms as she collapsed.

"Agent Barton? Agent Barton!"

He looked up to the doctor; finally realising she was speaking to him

"I need you to press that button by the side of the bed"

He fumbled at the war and as he found it; he heard the alarm wail

* * *

Pepper, Jane, Thor and Bruce had taken the kids home, it was almost midnight and Alexis, Cecelia, Jacob and Oliver had all fallen asleep in the waiting room. Evie had insisted on staying. Elijah and Henry helped with carrying their younger sisters out to the car after agreeing to go home as long as Evie phone them when she had some news.

Steve, Tony and Darcy waited with Evie. They got her a hot chocolate from the vending machine and Darcy took her down the hall to see Isaac in the NICU. She stared at him wonder as she watched his tiny chest rise and fall.

"He's so tiny"

"He was early; he wasn't fully grown when he was born"

"Is that why he has the tube? To help him breathe?"

"Yeah, but hopefully he won't need it long. The nurse said he's doing great"

Evie smiled up at Darcy, but they were both startled when they heard the alarm go off down the hallway.

* * *

A rush of medical personnel crowded into the room and Dr. Halloway started shouting instructions;

"She needs a shot of Anti-D and an infusion of adrenalin to counteract the oxytocin. I need the pediatric doctor paging stat"

20 minutes later Natasha came around; she was groggy but she would be fine.

"Clint?"

"Tasha" he smiled at her, relieved she was okay

"Clint, what happened? Where's the baby?"

"Isaac is doing great; he's in the NICU and they let Evie hold him. We had a daughter too Nat; she's so tiny. She wasn't breathing when she was born but she's okay now"

"You're sure?"

"I promise"

"Have you been to see them?"

"Not yet, I needed to make sure you were okay first"

She smiled tiredly up at him; "You should go see them, take some pictures for me"

"We've got some, Darcy has been down there with Eve; look"

Clint dug out his phone and handed it to Natasha. Her face lit up as she flicked through the photos of her two tiny babies. They were so small, especially their daughter.

"You know what this means?" she asked Clint who was peering at the photos too

"What?"

"We need another name"

"Yeah, yeah we do"  
They hadn't even considered girls names; they'd been told they were having a boy, one boy.

* * *

A few hours later Clint wondered down the corridor to the NICU. He watched through the window as Evie sat and cradled her baby brother. Steve was knelt by her side saying something Clint couldn't hear. Darcy had collapsed on the chairs just outside the NICU and was flat out; she'd refused to go home until she knew Natasha and the baby were okay.

Tony appeared by Clint's side; "you guys have enough now?"

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be in any rush for another anytime soon"

"You already have more than you bargained for! How's Nat doing?"

"She's okay; she's sleeping at the moment"

"That was another close call. You guys can't do anything straightforward can you? ...I just wanted to say thanks as well, for giving your son my name. It means a lot"

Clint smiled over at his friend, taking his eyes off his children for the first time since he'd arrived. He knew how much it meant to him, he also knew how hard it was for him to admit that

"It was Tasha's idea. She wanted you to know how thankful we are for everything you've done" Tony blushed slightly as he nodded.

"You guys want me to leave?" Darcy asked, waking up from her nap

"No, but I do want to ask you something" Clint said, sitting down beside her now her feet were off the adjacent seat. "Me and Natasha have come up with a name for our daughter, we want to know what you think; 'Clara Darcy Barton'?"

"Really?"  
Clint nodded, smiling at her reaction

"Aw you guys! I love it" she gushed. Tony smiled from beside her.

Clint hugged Darcy tightly, taking her slightly by surprise.  
"I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am for being there for Natasha when I couldn't be"

"Don't sweat it, can I go see Tasha?"

"She was asleep, but she'll probably be awake by now"

"Awesome, later guys!" she said, skipping off down the hallway.

* * *

Darcy knocked on the door before opening it and peering in. Natasha was lay on the bed flicking through the photos on Clint's phone.

"Hey Nat, how you feeling?"

"Barely human"

"You want anything to eat or drink?"

"Clint's got me covered, thanks" she said, gesturing to a bottle of water and blueberry muffin which Clint had brought her

Darcy went over and sat on the side of the bed  
"They're beautiful Nat"

Natasha smiled, she had barely seen her son, and hadn't seen her daughter at all other than the pictures Darcy had taken

"Darce, thank you for-"

"Not a problem Nat, you've saved the world, least I could was give you a lift!"

"Would you be godmother to the double trouble?"

"I better be! I mean you did name one after me" she smiled proudly

"Clint told you huh?"

"Yeah, he seemed a bit excited"

Natasha laughed, that was totally like Clint.

"Are you gonna go down and see them?"

"As soon as I can" she gestured to the wires and monitors strapped to her. They still had some concerns Natasha would collapse again.

"Forget all that. You unplug it all, I'll go steal a wheelchair and we can go see them now"  
Natasha smiled; she'd suggested the exact same thing until Clint had shot her down.

Darcy wheeled her into the NICU, Clint was so preoccupied with watching the twins that he didn't notice until Evie shouted "mom!" and ran over to her, throwing herself into Natasha's arms.  
He glared at her, before smiling. He went over to help her stand and walked with her back to the incubator Clara was asleep in, the nurses had put Isaac in beside her and the two tiny babies slept soundly; side by side.

"Look what we did Nat" Clint whispered proudly, as Evie jpoined them, sliding her hand into Natasha's.


	58. MIA

_In this chapter; Evie is 14, Elijah & Henry are 10, Alexis is five, Cecelia is four and Isaac & Clara are four months old_

* * *

The team, along with Pepper were all called into Fury's office. They weren't impressed; it was their first day off in months, not to mention they were looking after the kids while Clint and Natasha were away on a critical mission. The elder children were at school but Cecelia, Isaac, Clara and Poppy were all currently causing havoc in Hill's office.

They saw Coulson as they made their way up, he expertly avoided their gazes and ignored their greetings, rushing off and busying himself elsewhere

"Jeez, what's up with him? He's acting like someone died!"

They strolled into Fury's office and waited impatiently for Fury to appear. Just as Tony was close to giving up and leaving he finally arrived and quietly closed the door.

"Sorry for your wait, and thanks for coming all the way down here" he started. His politeness, or rather; lack or rudeness instantly put them on edge

"What's wrong?" Tony asked, jumping immediately to conclusions. The fact Pepper was called down should have made him think something wasn't right, but over the years she'd been called in on several occasions to discuss budget matters, uniform designs and basic techniques to get Tony and the others to comply with Fury...

"Agents Romanoff and Barton have been listed as MIA" Fury announced

There was complete silence in the room as the words sunk in

"Since when?" Tony finally asked

"Barton reported Romanoff missing 48 hours ago when she failed to make contact and her tracking device went offline. Barton disappeared 32 hours later when he refused to evacuate the area"

"Natasha's been missing for two days and you're just telling us now?" the disbelief in Steve's voice was obvious to everyone

"You weren't on this mission Rogers; we had a team in place"

"Well the team obviously wasn't good enough!" Tony said angrily, "What's the plan Fury?"

"There is no plan Stark; I have to inform you that the council want to classified them as KIA"

"KIA?" Thor queried

"Killed in action" Steve solemnly explained

"What?! They can't do that! On what grounds?"

"Trust me Stark, if it were any other agents I'd have agreed with them. I'm stalling the council and have sent out another team to try and locate them but it isn't looking good... I've called you in here because it is my duty to inform you that in the case of their deaths Romanoff and Barton asked that you raise their kids. They've named Tony and Pepper as the primary guardians, but asked that all the team, as well as Darcy, have an input in raising them. I'm trying to contact her now"

"Wait, you said they were MIA, why are you already talking about them as if they're dead?"

"Banner, Natasha was already injured when she went off the grid, and we were forced to evacuate the area due to a nuclear threat. It won't be long until the council upgrade their status; at this point they're MIA presumed dead and I need to ensure someone is going to take responsibility for those kids" he said soberly, watching as all five faces fell as the reality of the situation set in. "I need to know if you're willing to take guardianship, or I have to start making other arrangements..."

"Wait a minute, _presumed_ dead, you don't know anything yet!"

"Stark-"

"No! Don't even dare Fury! Not until you know for certain don't you dare give up on them!"

"I just need to know what-"

"Of course we'll take guardianship, it's not even a question" Pepper answered, silent tears running down her face. The thought of what was she'd say to the kids made her feel sick, they asked every night when their parents would be home, what was she supposed to say tonight?

"Give me their location?"

"Tony-"

"Fury, please don't make me hack your server again"

He finally gave in, he even let the team take a quinjet; hoping beyond hope he was wrong and the two assassins would be coming back. Several hours later Tony, Thor, Bruce and Steve returned alone. The entire area was a mess; civil war had broken out between the government and insurgents forces. They'd searched and searched but eventually had been forced to leave when the quinjet had been damaged and they'd been left with no other choice.

They didn't tell the kids yet, none of them could face it and they still hoped that somehow their friends would make it back.  
Fury was still stalling the council but they were pushing for a status report of KIA, and weren't backing down anytime soon.

Evie and the boys were fast becoming aware something was wrong and when Cecelia had mentioned to them that they'd gone to SHIELD they'd jumped to fairly accurate assumptions. The adults had tried to reassure them but doubt had played on their minds. They put on brave faces for their younger siblings who on the whole were more easily pacified by the simple excuses offered by their aunts and uncles, but the worry was starting to get to them, and Alexis and Cecelia were starting to pick up on it. They were becoming restless at night and starting to lose their concentration at school.

"We have to tell them _something_" Steve reasoned after putting Cecelia to bed for the fifth time that night

"What do we say? We don't have any definites yet" Pepper asked, rocking Clara to sleep

Isaac suddenly woke and began crying again; no one had been able to settle the twins properly since their parents had been away. Bruce picked him up and tried to settle him before his cries roused the other children

Evie appeared at the doorway; "What's really going on?" she asked wistfully  
Darcy got up from her seat and pulled Evie into her arms, the young girl broke down into tears and clung tightly to her godmother. Darcy looked to the others helplessly

Steve's phone suddenly started ringing; it was Hill. Excusing himself from the room to take the call, he burst back in moments later

"They're back!" he told them all, amazement apparent in his voice

Neither of them were in good shape, but they were back and they were alive.  
As it turned out the teams rescue mission missed them by just a few minutes. The two of them had been in hiding after being followed by insurgent agents, their com units had malfunctions and their movements had been slow due to their injuries. They were in hiding for two days before securing transport, once they'd gotten free of enemy territory they'd finally managed to make contact with SHIELD and get some much needed medical attention. The kids practically moved into the medical bay of SHIELD for the next few days until their parents were able to come home.

"I knew you'd guys would make it back" Tony told them when they finally got back to the tower, it had been a difficult week and Clint & Natasha had insisted on being released from the infirmary much earlier than advised

"Oh yeah?" Natasha asked

"Yeah, I knew you'd never _really_ leave me in charge of raising your kids"


	59. LATEST UPDATES

To Avoid confusion regarding updates I will list the new ones in this last chapter each time I update so you all know where you're up to. Sorry again for any misunderstandings; I write this as a series of mini-fics over on AO3 and therefore don't write them in order, but I wanted to put them in chronological order.

Hope this format helps!

* * *

_26/12/13 New Chapters:_

Chapter 9: 'Need to Know'

Chapter 10: 'More Than Expected'

Chapter 14: 'Miniature'

Chapter 16: 'Be Specific'

Chapter 32: 'Discoveries'

Chapter 36: 'Birthday'


End file.
